Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors

Of course, it was impossible to punish him for this, for after all, Lord Qin had not produced any truly compelling evidence.

This matter would have to wait until the Crown Prince and the Noble Consort each made their own defense before the truth could emerge.

Thus, with the "Venus Observes the Divisions of Qin" and the "Crown Prince's licentious behavior with the harem," the Crown Prince and Lord Qin came to a draw in this incident.

Seeing that nothing would come of it, Emperor Gaozu of Liang decided to send Lord Qin back first. Tomorrow morning, he would summon the Crown Prince and Prince Qi, along with Lord Qin, to confront each other face to face.

By then, whether the Crown Prince truly engaged in licentious behavior with the harem, and what exactly was the matter with "Venus Observes the Divisions of Qin," would all be settled in the court.

With this counterattack, Lord Qin not only bought himself an extra night's time but also secured the opportunity to simultaneously take out the Crown Prince and Prince Qi at the Xuanwu Gate Incident.

...

After Lord Qin returned to his own mansion, countless lights immediately sprung into action.

Li Hongyun noticed that most of the discussions about the Xuanwu Gate Incident were focused on the details.

However, the real process of a coup is often simple and direct.

After all, the exceedingly complex schemes typically exist in literature; real-life conspiracies are plain and straightforward.

Because a conspiracy always requires people to execute it, the more intricate the scheme, the higher the demand for flawless execution, and anyone involved could potentially cause issues.

Therefore, the key to a successful conspiracy lies in simplicity, directness, and efficiency. To ensure this, the effort must be placed in the daily preparatory work.

Judging by the dense cluster of lights at the Lord Qin Mansion, it was clear that Lord Qin's preparations were much more thorough than the Crown Prince's.

Of course, this does not mean that the Crown Prince had made no preparations or that he was in a weaker position in the process of the coup. In fact, the Crown Prince had the upper hand.

He and Prince Qi had overwhelming military strength against Lord Qin.

The Crown Prince had over two thousand private soldiers, known as the Changlin Army. Additionally, Prince Qi likely had his own private soldiers; historical records do not specify how many, but it is noted that he "secretly harbored desperate and strong men, generously rewarded them, and made them useful." One could reasonably deduce that there would be at least several hundred men.

On Lord Qin's side, he also had his own private soldiers, but their number was around seven or eight hundred.

Yuchi Jingde once said, "Moreover, the Great King has always nurtured over eight hundred valiant warriors, and those outside the palace have now entered," which can serve as corroborating evidence.

Eight hundred against three thousand; it was an absolute disadvantage in terms of military strength.

More importantly, the imperial guard responsible for the security of the entire palace was, in theory, still under the command of Emperor Gaozu of Liang.

If these imperial guards were also fully counted, the gap in military strength between the two sides would become even more pronounced.

Plus, Lord Qin's goal was not just to dispose of the Crown Prince and Prince Qi with these eight hundred men.

It would not be too difficult to eliminate the Crown Prince through an ambush, but Lord Qin had another important goal—to take control from Emperor Gaozu of Liang.

Otherwise, taking out the Crown Prince and Prince Qi without snatching power from Emperor Gaozu of Liang would lead to even more troublesome issues afterward.

Hence, Lord Qin actually had only a dozen or so men designated for the ambush of the Crown Prince and Prince Qi; the rest had tasks such as controlling Emperor Gaozu of Liang, blocking the imperial guard, and intercepting any support troops from the Crown Prince and Prince Qi.

Considering these factors, Lord Qin was even more stretched thin in man-power.

However, looking at the results, the process of the Xuanwu Gate Incident carried out by Lord Qin was as precise as a surgical operation, with no unforeseen events, and was almost too simple to believe.

Clearly, Lord Qin's advantage did not solely lie in these eight hundred men; the more crucial matters had already been taken care of in advance.

Li Hongyun saw countless lights patrolling back and forth within the palace—all responsible for guarding the palace as the imperial guard.

Upon close observation of these guards, one could frequently see fragments of their memories.

These memory fragments, almost without exception, all revolved around scenes of Lord Qin's heroic battles, which they had witnessed.

This was not merely the obedience and trust of soldiers toward their commander, but more like the adoration commoners have for a deity.

When domestic warfare had mostly settled, Emperor Gaozu of Liang disbanded the army from Guanzhong.

He cherry-picked thirty thousand from these soldiers, forming the imperial guard tasked with safeguarding the entire palace, and designated the fertile lands beside the White Canal north of the Wei River for them, calling them "Yuan Cong Imperial Guard."

Throughout history, the selection of the imperial guard has always been extremely strict, consisting mostly of either children from good families with clear backgrounds or orphans of fallen soldiers.

Emperor Taizu of Liang's actions were also not problematic; the soldiers from Guanzhong had proven their abilities and loyalty through the many battles during the Liang Dynasty's conquest, making them well-suited for guarding the palace.

But the one problem Emperor Gaozu of Liang did not anticipate was whether they were more loyal to the Emperor or to Lord Qin.

According to historical records, as early as two years prior, in the Seventh Year of Wude, Lord Qin had already begun wooing these imperial guards.

But the effectiveness of this wooing was uncertain.

He could not explicitly ask the imperial guards: "I am rebelling, do you support me or the Emperor?" He could not reveal the exact details either.

Gold and silver were sent out, words were delivered, but the extent to which these guards would assist him could only be known on the day of the incident.

And within the imperial guard, Lord Qin also focused on developing his own operatives.

There were Fourteen Guards in the imperial city, and Lord Qin was the Twelve Guards General, meaning he nominally led the Left and Right Guards, the Left and Right Valiant Guards, the Left and Right Martial Marquises, the Left and Right Encampments, and the Left and Right Commands, comprising twelve guards in total.