224 Chapter 224

◎Attending to the sick. ◎

Since the retired emperor had spoken, Li Shimin could not pretend not to hear it, so he had to let Li Chengqian stay to take care of him.

Before leaving, Li Shimin pulled his eldest son over and whispered to him, "Chengqian, although you are here to attend to the emperor's illness, don't be too complacent. The retired emperor has no shortage of servants. Just greet him and see that he takes his medicine. You don't need to do anything else."

Li Chengqian laughed in disbelief and said, "Am I actually such a simple-minded person?"

The Khan of Heaven still has this filter for him? This is a great discovery.

Li Shimin didn't smile. He continued, "Cheng Qian, I know you've always been close to the retired emperor, but you're still young and don't know how treacherous people are. The Da'an Palace is crowded and full of trouble. You must obey your father on this matter."

"I know what I'm doing." Li Chengqian smiled and nodded. "I'm sure I won't tire myself out. Just go ahead and do your thing."

After Li Shimin finished giving his instructions, Changsun came over and gave Li Chengqian a few more words of advice. The couple told Li Chengqian not to see them off, and left Da'an Palace hand in hand with their people.

When Li Chengqian returned, Li Yuan was watching Li Yuanying sitting on a footrest and playing with a Rubik's Cube. This thing was made by someone else, Li Chengqian, and it had stumped many people. Li Yuanying, who was now sweating profusely because of the difficulty, was obviously one of them.

Li Yuan saw Li Chengqian, waved, and said with a smile, "Chengqian, come and show your uncle."

Li Chengqian bowed to the Emperor, then said with a leisurely smile, "Aunt, I do know how to solve it, but it wouldn't be that interesting."

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanying quickly raised his head and asked, "How do you solve it?"

Li Yuan tapped his shoulder first and said with a smile, "Yuanying, you haven't paid your respects to the Crown Prince yet."

No matter what kind of person Li Yuanying would become in the future, he was currently obedient to his father and a well-behaved and adorable child. Upon hearing this, he stood up and said, "Greetings, Crown Prince."

Although Li Yuanying was older in seniority, Li Chengqian was the crown prince and should have received his greeting. But now, in front of Li Yuan, Li Chengqian had to give some face to his grandfather and the emperor, so he turned sideways to avoid the greeting.

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "Uncle, there's no need to be so polite. We'll see each other every day from now on. If I bow and you bow, it won't seem like we're family."

Li Yuan felt relieved after hearing this. He nodded with satisfaction and smiled, "Yuanying rarely sees you. I didn't know you were the most unceremonious. It will be fine after you get to know each other better."

Li Yuanying didn't understand the deeper meaning of this, so he just smiled and asked, "Once I'm familiar with it, can the prince teach me how to solve the Rubik's Cube?"

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "I can teach you right now. Besides, I can teach you how to solve the Rubik's Cube, I can also teach you how to solve the Nine Rings."

Li Yuanying clapped his hands and laughed, "The prince is so nice! I love playing with him!"

Li Yuan stroked his gray beard and looked at his youngest son with a doting smile.

Seeing this scene, Li Chengqian suddenly remembered that Tian Khan had once been a little jealous because of a box of gold. If he saw this scene now, he would probably not feel very happy.

This has nothing to do with envy or jealousy. It's just that things have changed and people have changed. Thinking about the past when the father and son were close and the father was loving and the son was filial, I feel very uncomfortable.

Just like the gap between Li Chengqian and Li Shimin that could never be eliminated, it was probably because Li Chengqian could never let go of everything from his previous life.

Li Yuan's illness was healing very slowly, and there was no sign of improvement after the first month of the year. In his previous life, Li Yuan died in the ninth year of Zhenguan, and now it was the seventh year of Zhenguan, so his physical condition was indeed in a declining stage.

Li Chengqian believed that Li Yuan's illness was mainly due to his very unhealthy lifestyle. When Sun Simiao was alive, he had given him many health suggestions, but Li Yuan ignored them all.

When he fell ill this time, Li Chengqian advised him to take more care, but Li Yuan said, "I'm already so old. How much longer can I live if I take more care? I'd rather enjoy everything I can while I can still eat and move. That way, I won't have any regrets when I die."

This was said without reservation, but Li Chengqian agreed with this idea and stopped trying to persuade him. However, one day, after playing with Li Yuanying for a while, he came to see Li Yuan taking medicine and casually asked, "Aren't you worried about the future of my uncles and aunts?"

Li Yuan had just rinsed his mouth and was still frowning because of the taste of medicine. Hearing this, he said, "My children and grandchildren will have their own blessings. No matter how much I worry about them, sooner or later there will be a day when I can no longer worry about them. Sooner or later, they will have to rely on themselves."

Li Chengqian shook his head and smiled: "You are quite open-minded."

Li Yuan leaned back on the soft pillow and smiled, "When you reach my age, you'll know whether to let it go or not. It's basically the same thing."

Li Chengqian tilted his head. This was a bit difficult. The age of the retired emperor was considered a long life in feudal society. Such a longevity was quite rare in their Li family. The next long-lived person was Li Longji - how many people wished he would die sooner.

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Li Yuan asked, "Are you tired of staying here with me?"

"It's okay." Li Chengqian said honestly, "It's much easier than being in Taiji Hall."

Li Yuan smiled and said, "You're going to be crowned this year, and you'll be involved in more government affairs in the future. If you're feeling overwhelmed now, what will you do in the future?"

Li Chengqian said indifferently, "Things will work out when the time comes. We can talk about the future later."

Li Yuan glanced at him sideways and said with certainty, "He's not telling the truth."

Li Chengqian shrugged and smiled: "Then what is the truth?"

"How should I know what your true words are?" Li Yuan waved his hand. "Stop talking nonsense in front of me. Go back to your uncle and do some serious business."

Li Chengqian was stunned and said, "But your illness..."

Li Yuan smiled and said, "My illness will not heal until I die. Please wait until I am buried before returning to Taiji Hall."

Li Chengqian: "..."

Although it's okay if there are no taboos, this statement is too unofficial. Li Chengqian didn't know how to respond for a moment.

Li Yuan laughed heartily. "You have moments like this too? You sharp-tongued boy, you also have moments when you're at a loss for words? Cheng Qian, do you remember that time when you always pissed me off?"

It's true that father and son are of the same bloodline, Li Chengqian muttered in his heart, and the emperor also mentioned something to Tian Khan.

Li Chengqian said with a straight face, "I'm telling you the truth. Sometimes the truth is hard to accept."

Li Yuan smiled and coughed twice before saying, "Okay, your tongue is sharp again."

Li Chengqian came over and rubbed his back: "Aunt, can we talk about something else?"

"No." Li Yuan said with a smile, "You should go talk to your father. You are no longer needed in Da'an Palace."

"You dislike me so much." Li Chengqian smiled.

Li Yuan seemed to have made up his mind that he no longer needed Li Chengqian to take care of him. The next day, when Li Shimin came to pay his respects as usual, Li Yuan mentioned it to him again.

This was naturally what Li Shimin wanted. Not to mention that his eldest son was there every day and he couldn't see him, but just the fact that there were so many people in Da'an Palace made him worried that someone would do something bad to the prince.

——Those who try to curry favor with the prince are considered villains in Li Shimin's eyes. Isn't it disadvantageous to the prince if such people try to get close to him?

——Although these people were Li Shimin's brothers and sisters, they only tried to curry favor with the prince in order to gain some benefits in terms of fiefdom and marriage, and they did not dare to seek more.

Li Chengqian had heard Li Shimin remind him of this many times, and even after leaving Da'an Palace, Tian Khan kept chattering on, as if the world was full of demons and monsters that wanted to lead Li Chengqian astray.

That's why he sent so many ministers to advise him, because he believed that the prince was not only close to villains, but also had serious moral problems of his own, and needed many people to correct his faults.

Li Chengqian couldn't say that there were no villains around him, nor could he say that he was a flawless person, but were Qingque and Zhinu, the Khan's children, flawless people? Why didn't the Khan ever send anyone to find fault with them and make them correct their mistakes?

It would have been fine if Li Tai was not the crown prince, but what did the Heavenly Khan do when Li Zhi was the crown prince?

Tian Khan learned from his last failure and personally educated the prince.

Li Chengqian was just a failed experiment of Tian Khan.

Thinking of this, Li Chengqian couldn't help but sneer.

Li Shimin paused, frowned, and asked, "Cheng Qian, what's wrong?"

In recent days in Da'an Palace, Li Chengqian felt a sense of empathy towards Tian Khan, but it was the retired emperor who made Tian Khan unhappy when he recalled the past, while it was Tian Khan himself who caused Li Chengqian to be like this.

But he was not the current Heavenly Khan, so Li Chengqian could not get an answer from him.

Li Chengqian thought for a moment and asked, "Do you think you are better at being a father-in-law, or is your father-in-law better?"

Li Shimin was a little surprised and a little sad: "Cheng Qian, you... do you think I am not as good as your grandfather?"

There is actually someone in the world who is even worse at being a father than the retired emperor, and that person is himself. If the eldest son really thinks so, Li Shimin has to admit that he is sad.

Li Chengqian thought for a while and said, "I think you are good now, but Li Tai probably thinks you are not good."

Li Shimin was stunned for a moment, then sighed softly: "Did the Emperor say something to you? Cheng Qian, if we were ordinary people, I would be partial to him, but at most it would cause unrest in the family. But we are the royal family. If I look down on the crown prince and favor a concubine's son, the country will be in turmoil and the stability of the country will be in turmoil."

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "It's not that serious. At most, your ministers are just betting on both sides. But that's understandable. The royal family has to make a fuss, and they have to work hard to protect their family's future."

These words were both generous and understanding, but they made Li Shimin frown deeply. "How could such a thing happen? Forming a clique for personal gain, and I just let it go? How could I be so foolish as to be even more senile than the emperor?"

Li Chengqian smiled even more happily. "These are all trivial matters for us in the Li Tang Dynasty. We are just a few people, and we all have real achievements. Later on, there will be a battle for the throne among the nine princes. Father, do you want me to tell you about this?"

Li Shimin said calmly: "Why don't you tell me about these little things about our Li Tang first."