Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors

Let's not even mention that Lord Qin was completely innocent; even if we try to forcefully pin some blame on him, his only fault would have been distributing the treasures from the Luoyang treasury to his officers and soldiers after taking over the city, without sharing any with Zhang Jieyu and Yinde concubine. Such so-called charges were nothing more than slander.

What's more important is that the Crown Prince would never plead with Emperor Gaozu of Liang for Lord Qin's pardon; he would only fan the flames.

In fact, throughout the entire Xuanwu Gate Incident, the Crown Prince had devoted all his efforts to maintain his position as Crown Prince as much as possible.

This demand might seem simple, and many people might mistakenly believe that the Crown Prince was completely in a passive, defensive state. But clearly, that was impossible.

The Crown Prince had already realized the overwhelming power of Lord Qin's forces, posing a severe threat to his own position. Therefore, from his perspective, as long as he wished to remain securely as Crown Prince and succeed Emperor Gaozu of Liang after his demise, he had to think of all possible means to suppress Lord Qin.

If he were indeed benevolent and pleaded for Lord Qin, he might as well have simply stepped down from the Crown Prince's position; that would have averted the plot of the Xuanwu Gate Incident.

He indeed only wished to secure the position of Crown Prince, but at that time, maintaining his status meant that he had to eliminate Lord Qin.

As long as Lord Qin remained alive, even without any official position, he was still a huge threat; conversely, once the position of the Crown Prince was stripped, he would no longer pose any threat to Lord Qin.

This comparison of strengths and weaknesses was not because of their backgrounds or status but merely because of the massive gap in their actual power.

This was an obvious issue, but there was a less apparent problem lurking in the shadows.

That was the role Prince Qi played in this process.

"Prince Qi wholeheartedly supported the Crown Prince's position and repeatedly urged the Crown Prince to take the initiative to kill Lord Qin first, but the Crown Prince refused."

The latter part does not present any issue when looking at the facts, as Prince Qi was indeed the more active one in the alliance between him and the Crown Prince, and he had indeed repeatedly persuaded the Crown Prince to assassinate Lord Qin.

The Crown Prince's refusal might have been due to his perception of the low chance of success, or other reasons, but setting aside motives and focusing solely on outcomes, this statement does not really pose any big problem.

The pitfall of this statement actually lies in the previous sentence.

"Prince Qi wholeheartedly supported the Crown Prince's position."

At first glance, this sentence might seem unproblematic, given Prince Qi's assistance to the Crown Prince against Lord Qin. However, the issue is that Prince Qi's ultimate goal was not to preserve the Crown Prince's position, but to seek his own ascension to the throne.

Because Prince Qi is the one among the father and sons who best knows Lord Qin.

Since the establishment of the Liang Dynasty, both Emperor Gaozu of Liang and the Crown Prince had always been stationed at the rear. The Crown Prince does have some experience leading troops into battle, but those were either assured victories aimed at picking ripe fruit or not very commendable performances.

Therefore, both the Crown Prince and Emperor Gaozu of Liang were quite ignorant about the affairs of war.

Especially Emperor Gaozu, who watched the continuous stream of victorious reports from the frontlines, witnessing his second son's consistent wins, naturally came to believe that waging war seemed a rather simple matter.

However, once Lord Qin did not achieve any decisive victory against the Turkic forces, and the Turkic continued to invade, Emperor Gaozu naturally suspected that Lord Qin was harboring the ambition of establishing his own power base.

Put differently, Emperor Gaozu and the Crown Prince did not have a direct understanding of how formidable Lord Qin was on the battlefield.

They exhibited a contradictory mentality: both underestimating Lord Qin's enormous role on the battlefield and worrying about the significant power he had attained there.

Prince Qi was different, though.

Due to various considerations, Emperor Taizu of Liang frequently sent Prince Qi to join Lord Qin's expeditions. During this process, Prince Qi had witnessed Lord Qin's battle at Hulaoguan Pass, where he captured two kings in a single fight and single-handedly chased away the Turkic people at Wulong Slope.

These miraculous feats, which Prince Qi did not even dare to dream of, were not only executed by Lord Qin, but also all succeeded.

That is why, after allying with the Crown Prince, Prince Qi was extremely eager for the Crown Prince to quickly physically eliminate Lord Qin.

Because he knew that if things were to drag on, allowing Lord Qin to act first, or if the plot were to be exposed leading Lord Qin to raise troops in revolt in the provinces, the combined forces of the Emperor, Crown Prince, and Prince Qi would not be enough to match Lord Qin.

As for Prince Qi's objective?

Clearly, it was also the throne.

On the surface, with the Emperor, Crown Prince, and Lord Qin ahead of him like three massive mountains, it seemed impossible for the Crown Prince's position to fall to him.

However, before the Liang Dynasty, there had been a long period of chaos. During those times, changing emperors was as casual as changing dishes, with instances of fathers and sons killing each other and siblings turning against one another being all too common.

It was not unusual for a third power to emerge victoriously after two forces had bitterly fought each other.

Thus, for Prince Qi, assisting the Crown Prince in killing Lord Qin was only the first step. As for how to further eliminate the Crown Prince and take the position for himself, that was likely not yet in his plans, and he could only play it by ear.

In the most ideal scenario, if the Crown Prince and Lord Qin were locked in a life-and-death struggle and in a desperate move, the Crown Prince killed Lord Qin, and subsequently, the generals of the Heavenly Strategy Mansion, seeking to save themselves, revolted and killed the Crown Prince, then wouldn't Prince Qi be able to profit from their strife?

Although this possibility was slim, it certainly existed, and trying wouldn't cause any loss for him.

Since Lord Qin currently held the greatest power, eliminating him first would only benefit Prince Qi.

"Although Emperor Gaozu did harbor intentions of deposing and replacing heirs, the frequent praise for the Crown Prince's benevolence by ladies Zhang Jieyu and Yinde concubine in the imperial harem made Emperor Taizu of Liang waver in his decision.