Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors

He had thought that Lord Qin was an unparalleled genius unmatched in his era, but when compared to Prince Qi, he could only dim in comparison and sincerely play a supportive role.

Such a son posed a great threat to his throne!

Since Lord Qin could calculate the downfall of Liu Wuzhou and Dou Jiande, as well as the death of Xue Ju, then he might well be able to predict his father emperor's death too.

The image of being "too wise and almost sinister" had caused tremendous panic among former enemies.

Now, this panic had finally reached Emperor Gaozu of Liang.

Emperor Gaozu of Liang began to constantly campaign against Prince Qi, and the Crown Prince was of course joining forces with Zhang Jieyu, Yinde concubine, and other favored concubines to whisper into Emperor Gaozu's ears.

On the contrary, Lord Qin often spoke well of Prince Qi.

After all, although he had been constantly overshadowed by Prince Qi, he truly admired his intelligent and nearly sinister younger brother from the bottom of his heart and believed that if the brothers united, they could govern the vast nation well.

This behavior, however, made Emperor Gaozu of Liang even more vigilant.

Because it was obvious to everyone how powerful Lord Qin and Prince Qi were; if these two united, not just the Crown Prince, even Emperor Gaozu's position could be easily overturned.

Thus, Emperor Gaozu of Liang began to overtly take sides and oppress both Lord Qin and Prince Qi simultaneously.

The generals under Li Hongyun were dispersed, the civil officials were transferred to the Crown Prince Mansion, and the private soldiers he controlled were all dismantled.

The Crown Prince Mansion, on the other hand, maintained as many as four thousand private soldiers.

By this stage, Li Hongyun had finally become desperate.

He realized he couldn't possibly wait for the White Star Overhead Incident any longer; if he waited any longer, his power would be fully eradicated.

Even if the Xuanwu Gate Incident did indeed happen, the four thousand men with the Crown Prince were enough to drown him by sheer numbers.

As for Lord Qin... he was now unable to protect himself.

Moreover, Li Hongyun couldn't possibly count on Lord Qin. If he waited for Lord Qin to make a move, perhaps he and the Crown Prince would be eliminated together.

Just then, Yuchi Jingde came to Prince Qi's mansion and reported a message.

"His Majesty has summoned the Crown Prince and Lord Qin to enter the palace tomorrow."

Li Hongyun couldn't help but perk up, instinctively glancing at his own bow and arrows.

Then, he extended his hand and tightly grasped the great bow that had accompanied him in many battles.

"Summon the death warriors; we'll enter the palace tomorrow!"

He couldn't wait for the White Star Overhead any longer; he didn't have that much time.

Historically, Lord Qin had to act with extreme caution when launching the Xuanwu Gate Incident because the consequences of failure were unimaginable.

But Li Hongyun needn't be too careful; after all, being "too wise and almost sinister," he could choose to start over.

...

All the preparations for the Xuanwu Gate Incident had been laid out by Li Hongyun long ago.

He Chang, who guarded the Xuanwu Gate, had been carefully wooed by Li Hongyun during his campaigns.

Yuchi Jingde had been recruited into his ranks long ago.

Although Lord Qin still had some fierce generals under him, Li Hongyun paid significant attention to secrecy this time, confident that under a swift attack, Lord Qin wouldn't be able to muster sufficient manpower.

Though the private soldiers under the Crown Prince were several times those of Lord Qin, the person Li Hongyun truly dreaded was still Lord Qin.

Leading the troops into the Xuanwu Gate, Li Hongyun dispatched Yuchi Jingde to lead a hundred cavalry in ambush while he personally led the troops to Emperor Gaozu of Liang, inviting the emperor to a riverboat ride at Haichi.

It was a bit improper to do so, as historically, this task should have been accomplished by Hou Junji.

But Li Hongyun was just a player; he didn't need to consider how history books should record this or worry about the subsequent impacts of this event.

He only needed to win the Xuanwu Gate Incident at this moment.

Therefore, he opted for the most reliable method.

After controlling Emperor Gaozu of Liang and many ministers by inviting them onto a boat at Haichi, Yuchi Jingde also began the ambush against the Crown Prince and Lord Qin.

However, the Crown Prince and Lord Qin were not of the same mind, so the two did not act concurrently.

Lord Qin entered first, but quickly realizing something was amiss, he turned and fled east on horseback.

After some consideration, Yuchi Jingde decided to take out the Crown Prince first.

When Li Hongyun returned and learned that Lord Qin had escaped, he immediately sent his generals to pursue him.

Although Lord Qin was extraordinarily brave, under the siege of hundreds of cavalry, he ultimately had no choice but to surrender.

A blood-soaked Yuchi Jingde advised, "My lord! Lord Qin is valiant and majestic, with ambitions for the empire. If my lord wishes to secure the throne, he should execute him immediately!"

Other generals also volunteered one after another.

Clearly, there was no room for kindness in a brutal power struggle.

As long as Lord Qin was alive, he posed a massive threat to Prince Qi's faction.

Li Hongyun sighed softly.

In fact, if there really had been such a heaven-sent prodigy as Prince Qi in history, then with Lord Qin as emperor and Prince Qi in charge of military campaigns, the two brothers would create a super dynasty even stronger than the historic Rule of Zhenguan.

But that was highly unlikely.

Because both Lord Qin and Prince Qi were destined to be "sovereigns," not just generals.

Prince Qi's contribution under Lord Qin might not exceed that of Li Jing, but the threat he posed to the throne was much greater.

Finally, Li Hongyun made up his mind to tie a perfect end to this trial.

"Second brother, no, Lord Qin.

"Perhaps you don't know, but to truly defeat you, I've tried countless times.

"Now I finally won, but there's nothing to be proud of.

"In the end, do you have any last words?"

Li Hongyun watched Lord Qin, never before having imagined that he could truly defeat this prodigy.

Of course, his success was due to the enhancement of many golden talents, the foresight from knowing history, and the ability to restart endlessly in the game.

So, he felt neither proud nor elated but rather somewhat melancholic.

Could he really do better than Lord Qin if he became emperor?

Clearly, that was not possible.

But what Li Hongyun did not expect was that Lord Qin, while tied up, suddenly showed a meaningful smile.

"Fourth brother, I just want to ask you one question."

Li Hongyun nodded, "You may ask."

Lord Qin's smile widened: "Who are you now?

"Are you Prince Qi, or Lord Qin?"