Chapter 4 Wei Zheng

Yongxingfang, Wei Mansion.

In the seventh year of the Zhenguan era, Wei Zheng was appointed as a Chamberlain, making him a powerful prime minister.

He was an honest and upright official, but his residence was not as shabby as one might imagine.

On the contrary, as prime minister, his residence was quite luxurious.

Unlike the residences of other ministers, his residence did not have many servants.

"Young Master is back."

As soon as the steward saw Wei Shuyu, he came to greet him.

Upon seeing Wei Shuyu's injuries, he immediately became extremely anxious: "Oh dear, how did you get injured like this? Quick... quick, come back inside, this old servant will get you some medicine..."

"fine."

Wei Shuyu waved his hand and strode into the Wei residence.

Just as I was trying to find my way back to my room, a furious shout came from afar...

"stop!"

A slightly aged man with silver hair at his temples walked over with a stern expression. His official robes were faded and patched, making him look quite shabby.

It was Wei Zheng.

Wei Zheng had a son late in life. He is currently 54 years old (by the traditional Chinese age reckoning), while Wei Shuyu is only 11 years old.

Of course, Wei Zheng was still vigorous despite his old age.

Because Wei Shuyu's mother is pregnant again and will give birth to her younger brother Wei Shuyu this year.

"Where did you get these injuries?" Wei Zheng demanded.

"Let's fight."

"You bastard, who gave you permission to fight?"

"If someone hits me, I'll hit back."

"No more fighting."

"What if someone else hits me?"

"Your father will stand up for you!"

Wei Zheng was a man of few words, but his last sentence was quite heartwarming...

Wei Shuyu took out Li Shimin's jade pendant and tossed it to Wei Zheng.

"Dad, go for it! Kill him!"

Wei Zheng hurriedly took it, afraid of dropping it on the ground.

This is a jade pendant, it's very valuable.

"Where did you get this jade pendant?" Wei Zheng reprimanded.

"Father, I have to ask you this: how did it end up on me?" Wei Shuyu grinned, revealing a meaningful smile.

Um?

This really confused Wei Zheng.

He looked down at the jade pendant again, and then his hand trembled so much that he almost dropped it on the ground.

He was very familiar with this jade pendant; he saw it almost every day.

"Has His Majesty left the palace?" Wei Zheng asked.

He said that His Majesty had given him a day off today because he was planning to leave the palace.

"Um."

Wei Shuyu nodded.

He actually recognized Li Shimin before he even got the jade pendant, so why did he pretend not to know him?

Because if they recognize each other, they'll get beaten up.

Li Shimin dared not hit him, for fear of being branded as someone who bullied a child.

Once they recognized each other, Li Shimin would be the elder, and it would be reasonable for an elder to teach a junior a lesson.

It's like Cheng Yaojin beating up Choi Sin-ki, does it look like he has a psychological burden?

"No, I must go to the palace to meet the Emperor."

Upon hearing that he had a task to perform, Wei Zheng immediately perked up.

"Wait..." Wei Shuyu stopped Wei Zheng: "Father, this won't do."

Um?

Wei Zheng stopped in his tracks: "What do you mean?"

"Now that the country is peaceful and prosperous, it is perfectly reasonable for His Majesty to go out and inspect the people's conditions..."

Before he could finish speaking, Wei Zheng angrily interrupted, "Absurd! What if His Majesty, as the ruler of a country, were attacked while traveling?"

"As the saying goes, it is easy to conquer the world, but difficult to govern it. Especially in times like these, we must focus on national affairs."

"besides……"

Wei Zheng launched into a long, rapid-fire monologue, which made Wei Shuyu, who was still talking, rub his ears.

After Wei Zheng had finished speaking, Wei Shuyu finally spoke up, "Is it wrong to understand the people's conditions?"

Well……

Wei Zheng choked.

However, he still stubbornly said, "It is certainly good to understand the people's conditions, but we must be extremely careful and make all the necessary arrangements."

"Then Father, how do you know His Majesty hasn't made proper arrangements?" Wei Shuyu didn't hold back at all: "His Majesty is accompanied by Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Cheng Yaojin, and others."

Wei Zheng's face instantly turned as ugly as if he had eaten feces.

This is ostracizing him.

Of course, as a notorious critic, he was already used to being ostracized.

What distressed him was that everyone was in cahoots with His Majesty in keeping it from him.

“Father, His Majesty did nothing wrong in this matter,” Wei Shuyu said earnestly. “He simply kept it from you.”

"If you rashly go up and start arguing, Li Shimin might not do anything to you, but if word gets out, it will damage the reputation of our Wei family..."

Wei Zheng looked at his Wei Shuyu in surprise.

Is this still my son?

How come he suddenly had an epiphany after getting into a fight?

"Then what do you think we should do about this?" Wei Zheng decided to test Wei Shuyu.

"It's simple, you just do it like this..."

An old man and a young man stood close together, plotting against Li Shimin.

Is it reliable?

"It's definitely more reliable than you criticizing Li Shimin."

"Shut up, call him Your Majesty."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

After muttering to himself for a while, Wei Zheng left with a triumphant and arrogant air.

The Eastern Palace, the residence of the Crown Prince.

Li Shimin was holding a whip and was lashing Li Chengqian hard.

Li Chengqian knelt on the ground, trembling with fear, his face showing pain.

"You insolent wretch, do you know what you're doing? You even dare to retaliate against Wei Zheng, are you insane?!"

Li Shimin beat him while cursing him.

If it were merely a conflict between younger generations, he wouldn't be so angry.

But Li Chengqian's goal was to take revenge on Wei Zheng!

If a crown prince is so narrow-minded, what will become of him in the future?

If word gets out that he is taking revenge on loyal ministers, who would dare to serve Li Chengqian?

This is sowing the seeds of disaster for the Tang Dynasty!

"Your Majesty, please stop hitting him. The Crown Prince is the heir apparent of the country. Damaging him would be a disgrace to the royal family," Changsun Wuji advised from the side.

"Fuji, don't stop me from doing this." Li Shimin was furious. "Today I will definitely teach him a lesson."

After being whipped, Li Shimin angrily took a sip of water.

"Go to the Wei residence to apologize tomorrow!"

Li Shimin turned and left.

"Your subject obeys." Li Chengqian obediently accepted the order.

He may have been a revered crown prince in the eyes of outsiders, but in front of Li Shimin, he could not muster even a thought of resistance.

"Your Majesty, Lord Wei requests an audience."

As soon as I returned to the Lizheng Hall, a eunuch came to report.

"Announce."

Li Shimin was in a very awkward position, but he had no choice but to meet with Wei Zheng.

"Wei Zheng pays his respects to Your Majesty."

Upon seeing Li Shimin, Wei Zheng hurriedly bowed and paid his respects.

"Xuancheng, what brings you here?"

Li Shimin feigned surprise, then ordered, "Wang De, offer him a seat."

"I dare not," Wei Zheng bowed again. "Your Majesty, I have come here to ask you to grant me this favor..."

Li Shimin's heart skipped a beat.

Could it be that the Crown Prince's plan to take revenge on Wei Shuyu has been leaked?

"What exactly happened?" Li Shimin asked with a concerned expression.

"Your Majesty, a shameless scoundrel has insulted the Duke of Liang and bullied my son, Shuyu. I implore Your Majesty to severely punish this villain," Wei Zheng said indignantly.

This sounds so familiar.

Duke of Liang?

Isn't that Fang Xuanling?

And there was also bullying of Wei Shuyu...

Li Shimin's heart skipped a beat.

This shameless scoundrel isn't talking about himself, is he?