Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors

Li Hongyun had no choice but to side with the Crown Prince.

As a result, the Crown Prince and Prince Qi's forces rapidly expanded.

If history had progressed as it had before, they would have been at a great advantage.

However, to Li Hongyun's surprise, history changed. This change did not come from Lord Qin, but from Emperor Gaozu of Liang.

According to the original history, the Crown Prince actually made two very serious blunders: one was to receive five hundred Tujue cavalry from the frontier army, colluding with the border generals—this was a grave offense; another was sending armor to Yang Wengan, who then plotted a rebellion.

In history, Emperor Gaozu of Liang merely scolded him severely and made him eat barley rice, but did not impose further punishment.

Let alone stripping him of the title of Crown Prince or significantly reducing his power.

This time, the Crown Prince still committed these two acts, but the situation changed.

Emperor Gaozu of Liang, enraged, punished many officials of the Crown Prince Mansion by either demoting them or sending them away from Chang'an to take up posts in other regions. At the same time, he dismantled the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace Guard and punished the border generals who were in collusion with the Crown Prince.

And Li Hongyun, this Prince Qi, because he was close to the Crown Prince, was also implicated, with the power of the Prince Qi Mansion dismantled and weakened.

"How preposterous!"

Li Hongyun was angry but after giving it some thought, he came to an understanding.

Emperor Gaozu of Liang's actions were flawless and completely in line with his character.

The image of Emperor Gaozu of Liang was never one of favoritism toward the Crown Prince but one of balancing among his sons.

If Lord Qin was too strong, then he would target Lord Qin specifically and lean in favor of the Crown Prince.

But now that the Crown Prince and Prince Qi had allied and their combined power had clearly surpassed Lord Qin's, Emperor Gaozu of Liang would naturally weaken the Crown Prince and Prince Qi's forces to support Lord Qin.

In the end, Emperor Gaozu of Liang's primary concern was to keep his sons peaceful so that he himself could sit on the throne for a few more years.

After being forcefully balanced by Emperor Gaozu of Liang, Li Hongyun was very displeased, but he had no options.

After regrouping, Li Hongyun began plotting the Xuanwu Gate Incident again.

He patiently waited for the occurrence of the "Venus Crosses the Sky" event.

The timing of this event was easy to predict; once the Venus phenomenon occurred, the Chief Historian would submit a report saying, "Lord Qin should possess the world," prompting Lord Qin to enter the palace and accuse the Crown Prince of illicit relations with the Empress and other noble concubines. Emperor Gaozu of Liang would then summon the Crown Prince and Prince Qi to the palace the next morning for an inquiry.

At that time, it would be the moment to take action.

Li Hongyun had made up his mind that on that day, he would directly lead all his private soldiers, fully armored, to enter through the Xuanwu Gate, and then engage in a tough battle with Lord Qin.

Although the forces of the Crown Prince and Prince Qi had been somewhat weakened, they still had three thousand men.

As long as these three thousand men did not wait cluelessly for the Crown Prince's demise before attacking the Xuanwu Gate, but charged and broke through from the start, then Lord Qin's few dozen riders lying in ambush would, in turn, be completely wiped out by them.

By then, even if Lord Qin were to defy the heavens, could he fight three thousand men alone?

Having made up his mind, Li Hongyun began to plan patiently.

Indeed, as scheduled, the Venus Crosses the Sky event happened.

Li Hongyun immediately went to persuade the Crown Prince.

Previously, he had not only acquired the necessary talent for the battle but also obtained a skill named "Silver Tongue," significantly enhancing his persuasion abilities, ensuring the Crown Prince would act according to his plan.

Thus, the Crown Prince led the men of the Eastern Palace mightily toward the Xuanwu Gate.

The guard Chang He at Xuanwu Gate, who was loyal to Lord Qin, naturally wouldn't let them enter.

Therefore, Li Hongyun first entered the Xuanwu Gate with a few cosworn followers without wearing armor, and then, as the gate was opened, he promptly took action and killed Chang He.

The Crown Prince and Prince Qi's over three thousand private soldiers then surged forth and seized Xuanwu Gate.

Only then did Li Hongyun, clad in armor, along with Liu Heita and others, storm through the Xuanwu Gate, heading straight for Linhudian.

Everything went as planned.

However, just as Li Hongyun was searching the vicinity of Linhudian for traces of Lord Qin, an embarrassing situation occurred.

Lord Qin indeed appeared, but accompanying him, in addition to warriors like Yuchi Jingde and Qin Shubao, were the palace's imperial guards.

Li Hongyun was stunned.

Why... were the imperial guards also standing behind Lord Qin?

Then, he heard the angry and trembling voice of Emperor Gaozu of Liang.

"You two rebels! To think that you actually dared to plot a rebellion!

"Were it not for Lord Qin coming to my rescue, I would have died at the hands of you two traitors!

"Lord Qin, execute these rebel officials and traitors for me! Once this matter is settled, I will appoint you as the Crown Prince!"

Lord Qin cast a complex look at Prince Qi.

It was clear that he had always hoped this brother would stand by his side—the two had once fought side by side, and their cooperation had been impeccably in sync, and they had deeply bonded.

But now, any brotherly affection had completely vanished.

Lord Qin's expression turned stern, "Your son obeys the edict!"

Li Hongyun froze on the spot.

This isn't right! This isn't how the script was supposed to go!