Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors

After all, it's difficult for an honest official to settle domestic disputes.

Li Hongyun felt that neither of these views likely represented the truth.

Lord Qin was a seasoned politician, decisive in action, and should have been clearer than anyone about the current situation. Thus, being swayed by emotions, while possible as an influencing factor, was definitely not the decisive one.

But this act seemed to have indeed taken place.

Li Hongyun felt that there were mainly two reasons why Lord Qin had to perform it.

First was that the overarching environment of the time demanded such a performance.

Just like when a Crown Prince was offered the throne, he must decline multiple times to show respect for his father the Emperor. Even a powerful official who usurped the throne, after having completed the standard procedures of being conferred the nine bestowments, still had to decline when he was genuinely recommended to become the Emperor.

The founder of the Qi Dynasty even overdid it, accepting the imperial yellow robe while protesting that all of it was against his will, though everyone knew what was really going on.

Lord Qin, in orchestrating his grand scheme, instead of lacking wisdom or courage, needed powerful moral support.

Of course, that was only part of the reason.

The more important reason was a test of obedience.

This was, after all, a plot for rebellion, not a matter of going to war.

If it were merely about going to war, then Lord Qin needn't worry too much about some specific elements during the process. When facing enemies, he believed that whether it was his advisors or generals, they all would surely give their utmost.

However, during the planning of a rebellion, how much initiative these advisors and generals could exercise was directly decisive in determining success or failure.

If any one of them was not eager but full of hesitation, then by tomorrow, there might be an irreparable flaw.

The more hesitant Lord Qin appeared to be, the more urgent and stronger the sense of crisis became in his subordinates.

This could test their loyalty on the one hand and provoke their initiative on the other.

Soon, Lord Qin achieved his goal. He not only received everybody's firm stance but also the moral support he desired.

Therefore, under the earnest persuasion of his supporters, Lord Qin ordered a tortoiseshell to be brought out, ready to divine good or bad fortunes and to put a satisfying end to this struggle.

At this moment, however, Zhang Gongjin happened to arrive from the outside and saw that tortoiseshell.

Zhang Gongjin snatched up the tortoiseshell and smashed it on the ground, "The purpose of divination is to resolve doubts. Now that the major event is beyond question, what's the point of divination! If the divination portends great misfortune, Lord Qin, would you then give up?"

Thus, the major event was determined.

There is a saying in "On Leadership": Leadership is a moral process by which a leader and followers come together based on shared motives, values, and purposes. In this process, when a leader employs institutional, political, psychological, and other forces to stimulate, attract, and satisfy the motives of followers, the act of leadership is accomplished.

The actions of Lord Qin at this time perfectly validated this saying.

...

On June 4th, in the ninth year of Wude, early in the morning.

The tranquil Chang'an city was just waking up from its night-time curfew, with residents starting their day as usual, unaware that this was a day filled with bloodshed and would determine the fate of the Liang Dynasty for the next hundred years.

The Crown Prince and Prince Qi thus rode out of the Eastern Palace, passing through the Xuanwu Gate, heading towards Linhudian.

When Zhang Jieyu informed the two, Prince Qi was more inclined towards Zhang Jieyu's suggestion—gathering troops and standing by, feigning illness to avoid court, observing the changes quietly.

But the Crown Prince thought that his troops were already assembled and ready, and since Chang He, who was in charge of guarding the Xuanwu Gate, was one of his men, along with the palace guards, Lord Qin should not dare to initiate a coup inside the palace.

He insisted on entering the court because he still wanted to monitor the development of the situation.

Emperor Gaozu of Liang summoned him to confront Lord Qin's accusation that he defiled the imperial harem. If the Crown Prince did not attend court when called, he might become even more suspect in Emperor Gaozu of Liang's eyes, falling into a passive state.

Clearly, it was Prince Qi who better understood Lord Qin.

After all, he had seen Lord Qin beheading men on the battlefield and knew the danger of this man. Unfortunately, he and Zhang Jieyu did not stand firm in their views and failed to significantly influence the Crown Prince.

The scenery around Linhudian remained beautiful, but compared to other days, it possessed an unnerving stillness.

"There must be a change!" Prince Qi was the first to realize that something was amiss.

He and the Crown Prince hastily turned their horses in an attempt to flee, but Lord Qin and Yuchi Jingde, who had been hiding, now charged out.

The bow, which the Turkic people considered "divine" when they saw it, was now fully drawn, with the large arrowhead glistening like a new moon on the bowstring, aimed at the Crown Prince.

The scene must have left a deep sense of fear in Prince Qi's mind.

Because he had seen Lord Qin on the battlefield and knew how deadly his arrows were.

The arrow, which never failed and could penetrate gates, had started a death countdown for the Crown Prince; and as Lord Qin galloped forward, Prince Qi was also trying to draw his bow and notch an arrow.

However, Prince Qi, who prided himself on saying "better to starve three days than to spend one without hunting" and once took pleasure in shooting peasants for sport in Jinyang, was now unable to draw his bow fully three times in a row.

All three arrows dropped to the ground helplessly, one zhang (about 3.3 meters) away from Lord Qin.

Prince Qi looked down in disbelief, finding his hands trembling slightly.

Before this moment, the Crown Prince and Prince Qi had plotted countless times how to kill Lord Qin, but only when they truly faced him on the battlefield did they realize they had never been prepared to confront Lord Qin in a direct fight.