Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors

Opening all the doors completely defied common sense and was actually a signal to the assassin: I already knew you were coming to kill me.

But not only did I not guard against you, I even opened the doors to let you come in freely.

So, do you dare to kill me?

Li Hongyun imagined himself in the assassin's shoes and realized that being assigned this task was indeed unlucky.

Assassinate Yuchi Jingde? What were the Crown Prince and Prince Qi thinking?

Prince Qi, although not great at fighting, had a significant Combat Power. Yet, Yuchi Jingde managed to snatch the spear from him during sparring, and he did it three times consecutively.

Such a man, known for killing like mowing grass and almost the peak of Combat Power in this era, assassinate my ass…

Therefore, the assassin lingered outside Yuchi Jingde's residence for a long time and eventually chickened out.

He completely didn't believe he could successfully assassinate Yuchi Jingde, who was already informed.

Though Yuchi Jingde appeared to be deep asleep, snoring loudly, who knew if he was faking it?

A general who had survived bloody battles, fought countless tough battles, and seen countless schemes, would he truly be unguarded?

Probably, he would be captured by the ambush the moment he entered the residence.

Thus, the second attempt against Yuchi Jingde also ended in failure.

After the relatively gentle phase of undermining each other, the Crown Prince and Prince Qi realized their disadvantage and changed their strategy.

From these two actions, it seemed they both failed.

Emperor Gaozu of Liang didn't charge Lord Qin with any crime, nor was Yuchi Jingde assassinated.

But in fact, the schemes of the Crown Prince and Prince Qi had taken effect, as they had planted a seed in Emperor Gaozu of Liang's mind.

Soon, this seed would take root and sprout.

Before long, the Crown Prince and Prince Qi made another move, this time accusing Yuchi Jingde through false charges.

Indeed, Yuchi Jingde was imprisoned by Emperor Gaozu of Liang, and it was only with great difficulty that Lord Qin managed to get him out after pleading desperately in the court.

Though Lord Qin managed to get Yuchi Jingde out through his efforts, it sent a very negative signal.

Perhaps next time, other meritorious officials in Lord Qin Mansion might not be so lucky.

As countless specks of light flickered, military reports from the north were delivered to the palace, and then relayed to the Crown Prince, Lord Qin, and Prince Qi.

Two critical messages began to stir the situation.

The first one was, "Taibai passes through the sky."

That is, the Gold Star Taibai appeared in the southern noon position in the sky during the day.

The Chief Historian reported that "Taibai seen when Qin is divided, Lord Qin shall rule the world."

The second was that Turkic people began to invade the borders and surround Wu City.

And these two events also collectively sparked the Xuanwu Gate Incident, causing the contradictions between the parties to instantly intensify.

Actually, in the process prior to this, many things had occurred within Li Hongyun's view, but he, after all, had limited energy and could only focus on a part.

Now, these two major events nearly stirred the entire situation in Chang'an City, making it impossible for him to ignore them even if he wanted to.

From the perspective of modern people, issues like the astronomical sign of Gold Star Taibai merely crossing the sky and the impact of Turkic invasions are not on the same level; after all, one is a normal celestial movement, elusive and without impact on reality, while the other constitutes a tangible border threat.

However, to the people of that time, the former was clearly far more serious than the latter.

Because the ancients believed in the unity of heaven and human, deeming the celestial phenomena often a harbinger of significant events.

When something is deeply believed by everyone, from the emperor to the commoners, even if it is nebulous, its influence can surpass many actual events in reality.

And the Chief Historian's report almost handed a knife directly to the Crown Prince.

For Lord Qin, the words "Gold Star Taibai seen over Qin signifies Lord Qin shall rule the world" harbored an implicit murderous intent, and the slightest carelessness could lead to a catastrophe.

As for why this matter was so serious, it was because the celestial event was too coincidental.

Gold Star Taibai crossing the sky was seen by the ancients as a sign of a major event or change in leadership. There was an ancient saying, "When Gold star Taibai crosses the sky, the world changes, the people replace their king, this is chaos, and the people will flee. Seen during the day competing with the sun, strong nations weaken, weak nations strengthen, and women leaders thrive."

What made the situation worse was that this crossing of Gold Star Taibai, and its position in the sky, directly correlated with the Qin region.

Ancient astronomy related each of the twenty-eight constellations with specific regions of the vast Huaxia land, supporting the theory of cosmic synergy.

For example, phrases like "Touching the constellations, Charting the well, Looking up, suspending breath," and "Stars-divide-wings, Earth-bounds-scale" correspond the star's positions in the sky with geographic locations on the ground.

So, the phenomena of Gold Star Taibai in the sky corresponded exactly with the position over Qin land, making the astrological conclusion clear in esotericism: Lord Qin shall rule the world.

Strictly from the perspective of cosmic synergy theory, the deduction of the Chief Historian was reasonable and well-founded, leaving almost no room for rebuttal.

Gold Star Taibai meant the dynasty's change, powerful nations weaken, minor nations strengthen. Emperor Gaozu of Liang was, of course, from a position of strength. Who then, was to replace him?

Gold Star Taibai again appearing in the position corresponding to Qin land made it self-evident.

And when Emperor Gaozu heard this interpretation, his uncontainable anger was fully understandable.

Thus, he quickly summoned Lord Qin to the palace to get to the bottom of it.

If Lord Qin could not provide a reasonable explanation, the consequences would be severe.

In fact, it was almost impossible for Lord Qin to offer such an explanation. What could he say, other than desperately defending himself from accusations of rebellion? Could he possibly enlighten Emperor Gaozu with modern astronomical knowledge?

And coincidentally, the invasion by the Turkic people provided an excellent opportunity for the Crown Prince and Prince Qi to act.

The Crown Prince recommended Prince Qi replace Lord Qin as the supreme commander over all military forces for the northern expedition to resist the Turkic invasion.

More importantly, he also requested that Yuchi Jingde, Cheng Zhijie, Qin Qiong, and other renowned generals of the Lord Qin Mansion join him.

He even planned to inspect and select elite soldiers from Lord Qin's forces to enhance his own army's combat power.

If previously the Crown Prince's manipulations to disperse Lord Qin Mansion's influential figures through Emperor Gaozu to different localities were somewhat covert, this time, leveraging the Turkic invasion, they completely revealed their hand, no more pretenses.

Prince Qi's departure meant the removal of Lord Qin's support, taking away all his truly loyal generals.

In time, Prince Qi wouldn't need to seriously fight the Turkic; he would need only to firmly bind these generals to his command using the imperial military orders.

And in such a situation, Yuchi Jingde and others could only endure and do nothing, as any rash action would give Prince Qi the pretext to execute them for not following military orders.

With his supporters removed, it would be much easier for the Crown Prince to move against Lord Qin.

After all, at that moment in Chang'an, with Emperor Gaozu constantly showing partiality, the actual armed forces controlled by the Crown Prince were more than those of Lord Qin.

The entire city of Chang'an instantly became tense with palpable anticipation.

Almost everyone clearly realized one thing: the outcome of the struggle between the Crown Prince and Lord Qin would soon be revealed.