222 Chapter 222

◎Marriage.◎

Seeing that Tian Khan did not answer for a long time, with a frown on his face and a tired look, Li Chengqian had many harsh words to say, but now he could not utter a single word.

After a long pause, Li Shimin finally said, "Chengqian, Father just hopes that both of you brothers are well."

Li Chengqian said, "It's no use telling me this, Father. Until now, I have never done anything that would offend Li Tai. He was the one who started to find me annoying."

In the previous life, Li Tai was the first to provoke the dispute. Under the doting of Tian Khan, he eventually made Li Chengqian desperate. Tian Khan wanted to ask Li Chengqian for his crime.

In this life, it was Li Tai who first thought of fighting among brothers. Li Chengqian did nothing, but the Heavenly Khan still threw the problem to Li Chengqian.

Li Shimin paused and nodded slightly: "Indeed... Qingque started it first."

Li Chengqian spread his hands and said, "So, there's nothing I can do about this matter."

Li Tai felt that Li Chengqian was an eyesore. What could he do? Unless Li Chengqian died, thus completely removing the thorn in Li Tai's side.

But this may not satisfy Li Tai's wishes. People are often dissatisfied. Who knows what he wants after this one.

And, most importantly, why should Li Chengqian die just because Li Tai found him an eyesore?

Li Chengqian lived a good life in this life. Whether he could succeed to the throne smoothly in the end was another matter. At least now it was impossible for him to seek death on his own initiative, and it was even more impossible for him to seek death for Li Tai, his rival in his previous life.

Li Shimin said in a deep voice: "I know."

Qingque wanted the first preference, but Li Shimin was now accustomed to giving this preference to Li Chengqian. Moreover, whether it was emotional or logical, Li Shimin could not force himself to change.

Li Chengqian didn't say anything, but just leaned back in his chair. He thought about his previous life again.

In his previous life, Li Tai had the absolute favor of the Heavenly Khan, so he had the idea of ​​seizing the throne.

For various reasons, Li Chengqian was favored over Li Tai in this life, so he wanted this favor that belonged to Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian and Li Tai could never be good brothers.

However, Li Chengqian really had no regrets about this, he just felt sad.

It's funny to say, but the person who understands Li Tai the most is probably Li Chengqian. He is always worried and depressed, and just can't understand why I'm not the one who is favored.

Didn't Li Tai receive the favor of the Heavenly Khan this time? Of course he did. Among all his brothers, he was treated second best by his father.

But just like a piece of cake, if it is divided equally, no one will have any objections. But if the person who divides the cake gives half to another person first, and then divides the remaining half to others, Li Tai is the one who gets two-thirds of the remaining half, and he will not think that he has gotten a lot. He will only compare himself with the first person who got half.

Li Chengqian rubbed his forehead and said with a headache: "This matter must be resolved. Just tell me what you want me to do, otherwise..."

If you stick your head out, you will be in danger. Li Chengqian has already failed once, and Tian Khan can bear the outcome of his two sons fighting to the death. However, given that Li Chengqian is no longer the same as before, the outcome of this life may be worse than the last time.

"You don't need to do anything." Li Shimin turned around and patted his eldest son's shoulder. "Cheng Qian, as the crown prince, you have done nothing wrong."

"As for Qingque... when he arrives at the Imperial Academy, he'll have teachers to teach him. He won't be allowed to interfere in state affairs. Just being a carefree prince is... pretty good too."

Li Chengqian looked at the Heavenly Khan in shock. Even Li Tai was not allowed to have any involvement in government affairs? Thinking about Li Tai's long list of official titles in his previous life, thinking about Li Tai's literary museum, the Heavenly Khan's decision must have been no less painful than it was.

In his previous life, after Li Chengqian rebelled, the Heavenly Khan decided to establish Li Zhi as the heir. The decision he made now was also to protect his two children.

Li Chengqian, who had understood this, was particularly calm as he was involved in both incidents. He said, "Aye has such good intentions. I hope Qingque can understand."

Although based on his understanding of Li Tai, he found this difficult.

Li Tai will not give up until he hits a wall.

What the final outcome will be depends on whether Tian Khan can be cruel to his Qingque.

…

By the end of the autumn of the fifth year of Zhenguan, Changsun no longer wanted to explore why the relationship between her two eldest sons had become colder.

This is certainly not because she is too busy or she no longer cares about her sons, but because she really can't do anything about these things.

Fortunately, Changsun knew one thing: as long as Erlang was there, her two sons would be able to save their lives no matter what.

Li Chengqian knew that his mother was worried about the children, so he often told her interesting stories to cheer her up. When there was progress in shipbuilding, he would come to her to share his joy.

Li Tai didn't know that his father had made up his mind, so he still had hope. He often came here to tell some interesting stories about his children, and sometimes he would take Li Zhi back to see his nephew.

At least as long as Li Chengqian and Li Tai did not meet, the overall atmosphere in Lizheng Hall was still very happy.

When Li Shimin spoke privately with his wife, they always comforted each other. After all, a few years ago, the only thing they hoped for was that their two children were well, and they did not expect anything else.

In such an atmosphere, the sixth year of Zhenguan quietly arrived.

In the first month of that year, a solar eclipse once again befell the Tang Dynasty. Except for Li Shimin who knew about it in advance, all the civil and military officials in the court were extremely calm. The reason was that they had seen too many solar eclipses in recent years and had already developed a fixed procedure for dealing with them.

The lives of the common people are now barely bearable. As long as they are alive, they don't care much about these things. Therefore, the court does not need to appease them, and everything remains as usual.

In March, Li Shimin prepared to go to Jiucheng Palace to escape the summer heat. In addition to the empress and the crown prince, there were also several high-ranking concubines in the harem, as well as the empress's children, and several older princes and princesses.

Such a large-scale activity was very troublesome. After a day of hard work, everyone was exhausted. Li Chengqian went to ask his mother how she was, and when he came back, he almost fell asleep while taking a bath.

He slept until dawn. It was a day off, so Li Chengqian stayed in bed. Although he went to Jiucheng Palace to escape the summer heat, he still had to attend to all the court affairs as usual, and he had to report to Tian Khan on time.

Arriving in a new place, Li Lizhi and Li Yuxiu were very curious and played around every day. This gave Li Shimin a headache because he had already started arranging marriages for his daughters.

What worried him was not that his daughter was about to get married but was still acting like a naughty little girl. After all, in Li Shimin's view, his daughter was the best girl in the world no matter what her temperament was. He was worried about something else.

First of all, the candidate. Li Shimin had long taken a fancy to Changsun Chong, the son of Changsun Wuji. Apart from the fact of kinship, the child had a good appearance and temperament. He had also met Li Zhi and was quite familiar with her. In Li Shimin's view, this was a match made in heaven.

As a mother, Changsun had no objection to this. She had also met Changsun Chong. Moreover, she believed in Erlang's vision and her brother's teachings, so she was very happy to accept her nephew as her son-in-law.

The only one who raised objections was Li Chengqian. He believed that the previous date of Li Lizhi's marriage, which had been decided in the seventh year of Zhenguan, was too early. After arguing with Tian Khan, he finally postponed it to the ninth year of Zhenguan, although Li Lizhi was only fifteen years old that year.

The world has only been at peace for a few years, and Li Shimin is still worried about increasing the population. He has always encouraged early marriage and encouraged the people to have more children, so his children naturally set an example.

Li Chengqian also had objections to the selection of Changsun Chong, but Li Lizhi stood up and expressed her approval, so his opinion was no longer considered an objection.

After the first problem is solved, the second problem comes: dowry.

As the first daughter born to the emperor and empress, Li Lizhi was always loved by her parents. She was not to be married until the ninth year of Zhenguan, but her dowry had to be prepared two or three years in advance.

Li Shimin hinted to the court officials that he wanted to prepare more dowry for his daughter. However, the emperor's love for his daughter was just a trivial matter in the eyes of the court officials. Therefore, they all suggested that Princess Changle's dowry should be double that of Princess Yongjia who had married earlier.

The matter of the dowry should have ended happily, but Wei Zheng jumped out at this time. He believed that Princess Yongjia was the aunt of Princess Changle, and there was an order of seniority, and the rules and etiquette should not be exceeded.

Generally speaking, Wei Zheng's advice was reasonable and well-founded, and Li Shimin had to accept it. However, he couldn't help feeling that his daughter was wronged by the small dowry, so he thought Wei Zheng was meddling.

Changsun Shi accepted this more quickly than Li Shimin. Not only did she praise Wei Zheng, she also gave him a reward and privately consoled Li Shimin: "Erlang, if you feel that Li Zhi's dowry is too little and you want to give her something more, you can reward her later. There is no need to rush now."

Although Li Shimin felt that his wife's words made sense, he was still a little depressed. When he was teaching Li Chengqian about state affairs, he couldn't help but grumble a few words, hoping that his eldest son would follow him in complaining about Wei Zheng.

Li Chengqian suggested: "How about this, Father, let Wei Zheng tell you what he says in person, and then you can decide how to prepare the dowry for Li Zhi."

Li Shimin immediately shook his head firmly: "Isn't this just lip service? How can I do such a thing? No!"

"You really have principles." Li Chengqian turned the empty teacup in his hand and said, "Then leave it to me."

Li Shimin asked doubtfully, "What did I give you?"

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "As an older brother, I have to give my younger sister some makeup too. I'll give Li Zhi some, but it's definitely not as much as we agreed upon at the beginning."

"Cheng Qian, I know you love Li Zhi, but how much can you give to her? Don't sacrifice yourself for your sister." Li Shimin shook his head again. The prince was only the crown prince, and the expenses of the Eastern Palace were all based on rules and etiquette. How much could he give to Li Zhi? He was just saving from his own expenses.

"I'm not that poor," Li Chengqian counted on his fingers and said, "I can't give you anything else, but I still have enough gold and silver."