Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors

At that time, Emperor Gaozu of Liang was still the governor of Taiyuan, in charge of the Jinyang Palace, with Pei Ji as his deputy.

Due to the chaos across the nation and the unstable situation, Emperor Gaozu of Liang was also secretly planning to raise troops.

However, at that point, the former emperor had already become extremely distrustful towards him and had dispatched his confidants, Gao Junya and Wang Wei, to Jinyang to watch his every move.

Therefore, if Emperor Gaozu of Liang wanted to rebel, he first needed to recruit soldiers and expand his power, but such conspicuous actions would definitely raise alarm.

This had always been a major problem troubling Emperor Gaozu of Liang when he considered raising troops in Jinyang.

Meanwhile, Gao Junya and Wang Wei were still in the city. Although Emperor Gaozu of Liang and Lord Qin were constantly making alliances with local heroes and contacting people from various places, the conditions for raising troops were still not ripe.

Should the plan leak and Gao Junya and Wang Wei discover it, the former rulers could send troops to suppress them at any time.

And that was exactly what Emperor Gaozu of Liang was worried about.

Li Hongyun was playing the role of Prince Qi, who was only fourteen or fifteen years old. His first task was to find his second brother, Lord Qin.

To tell him that he had a very important matter to discuss with him.

In fact, Li Hongyun could have chosen to directly approach Emperor Gaozu of Liang, but after some thought, he felt that the chance of success would be low.

Emperor Gaozu of Liang harbored more affection than admiration for his own son.

Even though Lord Qin was victorious in every battle, Emperor Gaozu of Liang did not feel that Lord Qin's abilities surpassed his own.

And since Prince Qi was so young at this time, Emperor Gaozu would certainly not take his opinions seriously. Even if he were to offer them, it was unlikely they would have much effect.

Li Hongyun needed a stepping stone, which was Lord Qin.

But to leverage this stepping stone, he first needed to do one thing: go to Jinyang.

At that time, the Crown Prince and Prince Qi were not in Jinyang—they were in River East. It was only after Emperor Gaozu of Liang decided to raise troops, and after he had even removed Gao Junya and Wang Wei, that he wrote to them, asking them to go to Jinyang.

After receiving the secret letter, the Crown Prince and Prince Qi hastily fled, abandoning even their relatives. Their fifth brother was captured and killed; the many local heroes they had spent years and money cultivating were all in vain.

It was a complete mess.

But this time was different. Li Hongyun had come.

Being too young, he had practically no opportunity to engage in combat during this period, so this time around, his first move was to take the gift of a silver tongue, persuading the Crown Prince to bring along their fifth brother and the local heroes they had collectively made connections with, and head to Jinyang first.

...

"Fourth brother? How did you get here!"

In the deep of night, seeing Prince Qi as he was plotting in his own residence, Lord Qin couldn't help but be profoundly startled.

After all, they were still in the secret planning stage of raising troops, and Emperor Gaozu had not yet sent a secret letter; both the Crown Prince and Prince Qi should have been in River East.

Seeing Prince Qi suddenly appearing in Jinyang gave even Lord Qin a shock.

Li Hongyun smiled faintly: "Second brother, I came with eldest brother and our fifth brother.

"Eldest brother and fifth brother have already gone ahead to see Father, and I came to see you first.

"It was my idea to come to Jinyang."

Lord Qin was obviously stunned, having thought that Prince Qi was surely brought over by the Crown Prince, but it turned out that this was Prince Qi's own idea.

"Why?" asked Lord Qin.

Li Hongyun smiled faintly: "Second brother, did you really think I wouldn't guess that you and Father were planning to raise troops in Jinyang?"

Lord Qin's face changed instantly.

He was indeed plotting a rebellion, but being directly confronted by his fifteen-year-old younger brother was another matter altogether.

Could it have been that obvious? Was it already known to everyone?

Li Hongyun continued: "Don't worry, second brother. The matter hasn't been exposed yet. However, seeing you and eldest brother making connections with local heroes separately in Jinyang and River East, I've noticed it all.

"In this turbulent world, we brothers must strive to make our mark. Your preparations are only natural.

"But leaving me and elder brother in River East was not a wise move."

On hearing this, Lord Qin was initially taken aback and then came to realize that his younger brother seemed to have extraordinary perception.

Initially, Emperor Gaozu of Liang's strategy was to leave the Crown Prince in River East and take Lord Qin with him to Jinyang.

This choice also made sense as the Crown Prince, being older, needed to stabilize the rear, while Lord Qin, young and brave, was an essential figure to keep by his side as a right-hand man.

Subsequently, leaving the Crown Prince in Chang'an to oversee the state while Lord Qin went out to lead campaigns was also in line with this thinking.

He gave both the Crown Prince and Lord Qin many treasures, allowing them to recruit local heroes in River East and Jinyang respectively.

But the outcomes of their recruitments differed greatly.

The people Lord Qin connected with, like Liu Wenjing and Pei Ji, became the main forces in raising troops in Jinyang, while the Crown Prince's connections came to naught, leaving nothing behind, and even ended up losing his fifth brother.

Because when the Crown Prince received the secret letter, he learned that Emperor Gaozu of Liang and Lord Qin had already started raising troops in Jinyang. With no preparations made, his flight was completely hasty and he abandoned his relatives, bringing nothing with him.

His fifth brother was captured and killed, and all his family members were captured as well.

Lord Qin got married at fifteen, and after entering Chang'an, the twenty-six-year-old Crown Prince only then married the twenty-eight-year-old Zheng Guanyin. Why hadn't he married earlier as the legitimate heir of Duke Liang?

Clearly he had been previously married, but had left them all in River East.

He didn't manage to bring any of his relatives and, needless to say, the local heroes he had connected with also lost all contact, completely useless.

This outcome could be attributed partly to the Crown Prince's limited abilities and lack of judgment. He failed to detect the danger in time, and by the time he received the secret letter, it was already too late to escape.