The Tang Family’s Seven Os

Sheng Lian looked at Tang Wu Yuan and Song Xiao Bai for a moment then sneered: “Then I wish you both a happy wedding.”

Song Xiao Bai tugged at the corner of his mouth, “Much thanks.”

Tang Wu Yuan raised his eyebrows and said carelessly, “When our wedding date is set, I will inform Third Prince again.
At that time, if Third Prince comes to drink celebratory wine, remember to bring a red packet.”

Sheng Lian looked at him with a sullen gaze, took a deep breath, tried hard to suppress the suffocation and anger in his chest, gave a sinister laugh, flung his sleeves and walked away.

His lapdogs hurriedly helped the lapdog who was just kicked by Song Xiao Bai and couldn’t walk and left in a huff.

Tang Wu Yuan watched them walk away, pursed his lips, closed the door tightly and opened the window.
He felt as if there was a stench in the room after Sheng Lian’s visit.

When he had finished, he clapped his hands and looked back at Song Xiao Bai, suddenly he asked calmly: “These days, have you interrogated the Lieutenant to find out who is the man behind him?”

“He refuses to say.” Song Xiao Bai shook his head, his eyes narrowing imperceptibly, and said in a low voice: “But there is someone I suspect.”

“Me too.” When Tang Wu Yuan finished speaking, he and Song Xiao Bai looked at each other, and then laughed at the same time.

Tang Wu Yuan sat down opposite Song Xiao Bai and curled his lips: “It seems like we suspect the same person.”

Song Xiao Bai nodded gently, then asked, “Why do you suspect him?”

“I once heard a bit of laughter coming from the Lieutenant General’s phone, it sounded very similar to his voice.” Tang Wu Yuan paused slightly before continuing, “Moreover, he mentioned the aphrodisiac just now, something we have never spoken to the public about except for the Marshal and my fathers, so how would he know?”

Song Xiao Bai nodded with a sullen expression, “So it seems that it should indeed be him, there won’t be any mistake.”

“What about you, why do you suspect it’s him?” Tang Wu Yuan picked up his water and took a sip.

His lips were stained with some water and looked crystalline and plump.
Song Xiao Bai’s eyes unconsciously fell on his lips as he said softly: “When we were investigating the spy before, it is true that no one inside the army had contacted the outside world, but we overlooked at the time that this Third Prince was able to enter and leave the military headquarters every day.”

Tang Wu Yuan recalled: “The reason we didn’t suspect him at the time was because one, he is a prince and the chances of him having ties to pirates were extremely low, and two, he wasn’t at the meeting at the time.”

Song Xiao Bai moved his eyes away from his lips, “Right, but at that time our conclusion was built on the basis that there is only one spy.
Now, since our speculation is that there is at least two spies and one of them is the Lieutenant, it is possible that the contents of the meeting were passed from the Lieutenant to another person, who in turn passed it on, someone who had to be able to enter and leave the military headquarters freely, but also not easily to be detected.
Sheng Lian’s identity fits perfectly, which is why I began to suspect him.”

“What is his purpose in doing this?” Tang Wu Yuan frowned, this was the point he could not figure out.
Sheng Lian was already a prince, even if he is not recognised by all, there is no need to be in the company of pirates, being a prince with a high status was better than being a pirate, right?

Song Xiao Bai’s fingers tapped on the table, a dark hue flashed in his eyes, “He may be trying to use his pirate status to eradicate dissidents.”

“He’s a Prince eradicating dissidents?” Tang Wu Yuan said in disbelief.

He looked up at Song Xiao Bai’s complexion, his voice suddenly stopped, not knowing what had occurred to him, his complexion sank violently.

He was silent for a moment and said softly with a grave expression: “Are you saying that……it is His Majesty……”

Song Xiao Bai looked at him and nodded, analysing in a deep voice, “The identity of the Third Prince is unjustified1名不正，言不顺 (míng bù zhèng, yán bù shùn): an idiom, lit.
the name is not correct, the words are not right.
It is a confucian theory of thought, originally refers to things that cannot be discussed theoretically, that is, something that is unreasonable will definitely not succeed., his biggest reliance is His Majesty.
All along, although the Military Ministry serves His Majesty, it is not directly appointed by His Majesty.
His Majesty has been trying to take back the power of the Military Ministry for all these years but struggled to get the opportunity, it is difficult to even insert someone into the ministry, so the Military Ministry has always been a big problem for His Majesty.
”

Tang Wu Yuan’s gaze sank as he followed his words, “Now that Marshal Xi Meng is old, you, as the Major General of the Golden Eagle Army, are the most likely person to take over Marshal Xi Meng’s position.
If you become the next Marshal, then His Majesty will still not be able to control you, nor will he be able to control the Military Ministry.
Hence, if His Majesty wants to have one of his men as the next Marshal, he must get rid of you as a stumbling block and Sheng Lian also wants to eliminate me as a thorn in his side.”

Song Xiao Bai nodded, “As far as my analysis goes, it is highly likely that His Majesty ordered or hinted to Sheng Lian to eradicate me.
Because of his command, Sheng Lian would cooperate with the pirates.
Sheng Lian passes messages to the pirates, the pirates helps him eradicate the dissidents.
This time, the pirates captured you because Sheng Lian wanted to vent his personal anger, but also wanted to lure me into the game, it would be better to eliminate you and me in one go.
”

“Then what do you plan to do next? Since His Majesty can come up with such a method, we can no longer sit back and wait for death.” Tang Wu Yuan’s brow furrowed tightly, now that the Lieutenant General refused to confess, even if they guessed the truth, they could not do anything about the Third Prince and His Majesty.

“Since the Lieutenant General refuses to confess, then I can only use him to draw out the people behind him.”

Tang Wu Yuan pondered briefly, “Are you thinking of……inviting the king into the earthen jar2请君入瓮 (qǐng jūn rù wèng): an idiom, it refers to using someone’s methods to deal with that someone’s body.
It evolved from a fable about Zhou Xing and Lai Jun Chen, two of Empress Wu Ze Tian’s most vicious officials.
Empress Wu Ze Tian receives a letter informing that Zhou Xing is plotting a rebellion.
She orders Lai Jun Chen to investigate.
Lai Jun Chen asks Zhou Xing on advise on how to handle prisoners who refuses to confess their guilt.
Zhou Xing tells him to bring a large earthen jar and light fire around it then let the prisoners enter the urn, what will they not confess? Lai Jun Chen then has an earthen jar prepared with a fire lit and asks Zhou Xing to get into the earthen jar himself as someone has reported that he plans to rebel.
When Zhou Xing hear this, he immediately confesses.
You can read the full story here?”

“En, I was worried before that another spy was in the military department so I kept the news of capturing the Lieutenant General alive secret from the public, only declaring that he is dead.
So today, the Third Prince dared to come over so emboldened, he should also want to test your attitude and mine on purpose today, taking the opportunity to see if we suspect him, only he didn’t expect that he would be so angry with us that  he accidentally mentioned the aphrodisiac and exposed his identity instead.”

Song Xiao Bai voice paused as he looked up at Tang Wu Yuan, slightly hooking one side of his lips and saying, “If at this time, he suddenly finds out that the Lieutenant General is still alive and in our hands, what do you think he would do?”

“He would find a way to kill and silence him.” Tang Wu Yuan said without hesitation, Sheng Lian would be eager to kill the Lieutenant General if he knew he was not dead.

Song Xiao Bai nodded, “If he wants to keep his connection to the pirates under wraps, he can only silence the Lieutenant General as fast as he can now, otherwise it will be one more threat as long as the Lieutenant General is in our hands.”

He pondered slightly, “I just haven’t figured out how I’m going to give him a chance to get rid of the Lieutenant General with a plausible reason.”

Tang Wu Yuan looked down and thought for a moment, then suddenly smiled, “How about the day we get married?”

Song Xiao Bai’s expression twitched, “You mean……”

Tang Wu Yuan said with a leisurely smile: “The day we get married in the army, everyone will have drank, so it is only natural that the people guarding the Lieutenant will let their guard down.
At that time, if anyone wants to take advantage of the opportunity to harm the Lieutenant, it is the best time to do so.”

Song Xiao Bai frowned and pondered, “That’s a good idea but if we do that, we’ll have to move up the wedding date, and we can only keep it simple if we have the wedding in the army.”

Tang Wu Yuan waved his hand and said with a carefree expression: “The wedding is just a formality, it doesn’t matter.” He was not a fan of elaborate and extravagant things and a military wedding was what he wanted most.

Song Xiao Bai frowned slightly, looked at him for a moment in silence, lowered his eyes and said: “Okay.”

“Then wait a while, I’ll call and ask teacher and my dads discuss a wedding date and try to get it as soon as possible.”

Tang Wu Yuan frowned slightly after he finished speaking, suddenly a little nervous, he looked up at Song Xiao Bai and whispered: “Do you think teacher will not like this ‘daughter-in-law’ ah?” Everyone likes a soft and gentle Omega, an Omega like him seemed a little too tough.

Song Xiao Bai was caught off guard and met Tang Wu Yuan’s worried gaze, his brows couldn’t help but loosen, the corners of his lips curled up slightly and he said softly: “Don’t worry, my mother has always liked you, she treats you like half her own son, if she knew it you and I are getting married, she would be overjoyed.”

Tang Wu Yuan pursed his lips and smiled, “That’s good, I also like teacher……however, do you think we can bring down Sheng Lian in this incident? Will His Majesty protect him?”

“Will.” Song Xiao Bai nodded, “His Majesty will use all means to protect him, he knows too many of His Majesty’s secrets and is His Majesty’s own son.
Since His Majesty cannot kill him to silence him, he can only try to protect him as much as possible.”

Tang Wu Yuan frowned and said reluctantly: “Are we just going to let him go? He has tried to harm us several times, and if we hadn’t been able to turn the danger into success, he would have been killed us by now.”

When Tang Wu Yuan remembered that Sheng Lian had asked the Lieutenant to give him an aphrodisiac and tried to lure Song Xiao Bai into a trap to kill him, he hated that he couldn’t take care of Sheng Lian with his own hands.

Song Xiao Bai’s gaze was deep, “Of course we can’t let him go, he’s vicious, the future of the empire should never be in the hands of such a person, but even if we get the evidence now, we can only keep quiet for now and wait until the day when His Majesty can no longer protect him, then we can take it out and bring him down in one blow.”

“The day when His Majesty can no longer protect him……” Tang Wu Yuan murmured in a low voice, pondering, although he knew that the current Emperor was not a good emperor, he had never thought of rebelling.
The day he entered the army, he had learned to be loyal to the Empire to the death, but he could not help but wonder, such an Emperor, such a Prince, are they really worth his loyalty to the death?

He couldn’t help but look up at Song Xiao Bai with a torn expression of shock and panic.

Song Xiao Bai laughed lightly and couldn’t help but reach out and rub a handful of his hair, “What are you thinking about, I have no intention of defecting.”

Tang Wu Yuan was instantly relieved and asked: “Then what is your intention?”

“Have you forgotten that there are two other princes?” Song Xiao Bai said with a light smile.

Tang Wu Yuan froze, then reacted, “You mean Sheng Cen?”

While the eldest prince is handicapped and unlikely to inherit the throne, the second prince, Sheng Cen, was strong, fit and talented.
It’s just that he had not been favoured by His Majesty for many years, which was why he had been overlooked by everyone, but this kind of neglect was just right for Sheng Cen to bide his time.

Song Xiao Bai nodded and suddenly asked: “Is your brother’s relationship with Sheng Cen good?”

Tang Wu Yuan couldn’t help but let out a laugh, Sheng Cen’s name was something he had heard many times over the years from Xiao Qi’s mouth, “It should be good, when Sheng Cen was studying in the past, he was even more of a jerk than Sheng Lian, fighting and causing trouble every day.
Thanks to Xiao Qi, he was forced to attend classes and graduated properly.”

Song Xiao Bai glanced at him and gently raised one eyebrow, “So Sheng Cen’s classmate is Xiao Qi? And not Xiao Liu?”

Tang Wu Yuan’s cheeks could not help but redden slightly as he remembered that he had lied to him back then.

Song Xiao Bai curled his lips into a light smile, “Is Xiao Qi very capable of fighting?”

Tang Wu Yuan shook his head, “Xiao Qi was weak as a child and didn’t train with us, so he doesn’t know how to fight.”

Song Xiao Bai was a little surprised and asked, “Then why did Sheng Cen listen to Xiao Qi so much?”

Tang Wu Yuan thought for a moment, “……because Xiao Qi’s moral, intellectual, physical and aesthetic development is comprehensive.”

“……” Song Xiao Bai was silent for a moment, finally digesting the answer before he said with a straight face: “You tell Xiao Qi to make an appointment with Sheng Cen for me, I want to meet him.”

Tang Wu Yuan thought for a moment, “If you deliberately meet with Sheng Cen, it might arouse suspicion.
The day after tomorrow happens to be my brother Tang Si Yuan’s wedding, you go with me, at that time Xiao Qi will be there and Sheng Cen should be there as well.”

Song Xiao Bai nodded, “Ok, we’re getting married too, I can coincidentally officially meet your family.”

Tang Wu Yuan was still a bit uncomfortable when it came to the marriage, his brothers would laugh at him if they knew he was getting married to his nemesis.

1名不正，言不顺 (míng bù zhèng, yán bù shùn): an idiom, lit.
the name is not correct, the words are not right.
It is a confucian theory of thought, originally refers to things that cannot be discussed theoretically, that is, something that is unreasonable will definitely not succeed.2请君入瓮 (qǐng jūn rù wèng): an idiom, it refers to using someone’s methods to deal with that someone’s body.
It evolved from a fable about Zhou Xing and Lai Jun Chen, two of Empress Wu Ze Tian’s most vicious officials.
Empress Wu Ze Tian receives a letter informing that Zhou Xing is plotting a rebellion.
She orders Lai Jun Chen to investigate.
Lai Jun Chen asks Zhou Xing on advise on how to handle prisoners who refuses to confess their guilt.
Zhou Xing tells him to bring a large earthen jar and light fire around it then let the prisoners enter the urn, what will they not confess? Lai Jun Chen then has an earthen jar prepared with a fire lit and asks Zhou Xing to get into the earthen jar himself as someone has reported that he plans to rebel.
When Zhou Xing hear this, he immediately confesses.
You can read the full story here