The birth of the fifth prince Li Hong brought joy to the entire palace. The ministers in the court no longer opposed the relationship between Li Zhi and Wu Mei, and naturally felt Li Zhi's joy at this time. Congratulations were heard everywhere in the court, which made Li Zhi very happy.

Wu Mei, who had not given birth to any children for Emperor Taizong, gave birth to a prince for Li Zhi one year after being brought into the palace by Li Zhi, which also made the court officials feel Wu Mei's vague presence in the harem.

Li Zhi originally wanted to announce it to the world and celebrate with the people, and grant amnesty to all the people in the world to express his joy at having a dragon son.

But Wu Mei, who had just entered the palace for a year, firmly opposed it. She knew very well that her affair with Li Zhi had been forgotten by everyone in the court. But after all, it was not long, and celebrating it would only attract criticism and excessive speculation from those with ulterior motives.

What's more, Wu Mei's foothold in the harem is still unstable. Whether it is Queen Wang who has never given birth to children for Li Zhi, or Concubine Xiao Shufei, or other concubines, their foundation is stronger than her, a second-rank Zhaoyi who has just entered the palace.

Moreover, Li Zhi had promoted her to the rank of Second Rank Zhaoyi two days ago after she gave birth to Li Hong. This also made Wu Mei warn herself in her heart that she had to be careful in her daily life, and relying too much on her favor would only bring her misfortune.

Therefore, because Wu Mei tried her best to keep a low profile, after the fifth prince Li Hong received some rewards from his father, the palace did not seem particularly lively and festive just because he was the new prince.

Li Hong leaned in the palace maid's arms, and from time to time he put his little hands into his mouth to lick and bite them. Although he didn't want to do this all the time, his thoughts were obviously not in sync with the baby's body, so he could only ask the palace maid to take his little hands out of his mouth again and again.

The palace maid looked at the Fifth Prince with worry, as his eyes looked a little dull. Starting from the past two days, for some reason, the Fifth Prince would often have such a dull look in his eyes after waking up from a nap. If he was not still a baby, the palace maid would have thought that the bright little eyes were the thoughtful eyes of an adult.

...

...

Sometimes, she would even inadvertently meet the Fifth Prince's eyes. His deep, bright, and somewhat mysterious eyes always made her heart skip a beat.

Li Hong looked up at the palace maid's surprised eyes and naturally knew what was going on. He thought to himself, "This is bad. I can't be in a daze and thinking all the time. I have to show the innocence and innocence that a baby should have."

So Li Hong put his little hand in his mouth and laughed happily at the maid. When the maid saw that Li Hong had returned to normal, she immediately showed a relieved expression. The fifth prince was still very cute most of the time, which made her happy from the bottom of her heart.

Li Hong had been born for more than a hundred days, and almost everyone in the harem had seen him. On the hundredth day, Queen Wang, Concubine Xiao and other concubines came to see him. After sitting down and exchanging a few words with his mother, they all returned to their own residences.

Her own mother also came in person to express her gratitude one by one. Especially in front of the Queen and Concubine Xiao Shufei, her mother Wu Mei showed complete sincerity and humility, acting just like a young wife. She was completely different from the domineering empress recorded in later history books.

Li Hong had four older brothers and two older sisters. Naturally, Crown Prince Li Zhong was the eldest among them. They all followed their mother to visit Li Hong.

Li Hong's little eyes kept moving between Queen Wang and Crown Prince Li Zhong. Li Zhong was born to a palace maid named Liu. His mother was of humble origins. He was adopted by Queen Wang and served as Crown Prince for several years. However, he was cowardly by nature, even worse than Li Zhi when he was a child. He was actually panicked by Li Hong's little eyes.

Li Hong's thoughts were flying around, and he couldn't help but sigh when he thought of Li Zhong's end. But in the eyes of the palace maids, how come the Fifth Prince was sleepy again just after waking up, yawning continuously? Could it be that he didn't sleep well?

Everything was still calm in the harem. What was happening outside the palace was like a completely different world to Li Hong. However, from the occasional conversations between his father and mother, he could tell that although it had only been three or five years since Taizong's death, undercurrents were already surging in the court, and some people had even begun to plot to seize power and usurp the throne.

As expected, when Li Hong was just taking his first steps, his father Emperor Li Zhi ordered the execution of Fang Yiai, Xue Wanche, Chai Lingwu and others, all of whom were former princes-in-law of the Li family. Naturally, Li Zhi's sisters would also be punished by committing suicide, and even his uncle Li Yuanjing and brother Li Ke would be executed.

These things naturally had nothing to do with Li Hong. The most relevant thing was that his mother was pregnant again. Li Hong calculated with his fingers that this was the rhythm of one baby per year. He would have three younger brothers and a younger sister in the future.

All of his father's future children will be his own brothers and sisters. Except for the children born to his mother, Li Zhi has never had any children with other concubines in the harem.

In the harem, Concubine Wu Mei, her mother, has gradually become the backbone of the harem. Although she will discuss all matters with the Queen and Concubine Xiao Shufei, the two of them have obviously let go of all their guard against her mother and treat her like their own sister. Naturally, there is finally a place for Wu Zhaoyi in the harem.

The more the harem was like this, the more afraid Li Hong was. The history books recorded that he could live to the age of 23, but who knew if history would be rewritten? He could reincarnate nine times and ten times, so it wouldn't be difficult for the fifth prince Li Hong to die young, right? This was the harem, the best and ideal place to practice Sun Tzu's Art of War in the 5,000 years of Chinese history.

But fortunately, my mother still relies on me a lot. As the eldest son, I am very important to my mother. At least if she wants to have a place in the harem, she has to rely on me, the eldest son, right?

But if she were a girl, her position in Wu Mei's heart would probably not be so important.

Li Hong and Wu Mei's ideas coincided on this point, so the one-year-old Li Hong had his own palace maids and eunuchs earlier than his other three brothers. The two palace maids were gentle and virtuous, smart and sensible, and most importantly, they were young but already beautiful women, so they naturally felt comfortable serving him.

The two eunuchs were obviously selected from Li Zhi. They were masters of martial arts. They followed the two palace maids all the time to protect Li Hong. This also made Li Hong, who suffered from paranoid paranoia, no longer worry about being drowned in a urine bucket if he was left alone in the palace.

Such an arrangement naturally made Li Hong feel comfortable and he greatly appreciated his father. Whenever his father came to see him and his mother, Li Hong would run over to ask for a hug, as a way of repaying his father's love for him. This move naturally made Li Zhilong very happy, and he hugged him and laughed heartily.

In front of his father and mother, Li Hong completely hid his thoughts in front of the palace maids. In their eyes, Li Hong was just a complete baby.

This also made Li Zhi stroke Li Hong's little head and tease him whenever he saw him: "Do you want your mother to give birth to a brother or a sister for you?"

Every time Li Hong heard this, he would stagger over to his mother, tiptoe and stretch out his little hands to stroke his mother's big belly which was about to give birth, and then look at Li Zhi and giggle.

Just like a regular feature, every time Li Hong did this, Li Zhi would laugh indulgently, and then the two of them would smile at each other foolishly.

Li Hong welcomed his first sister, Li Si, but Li Hong was not happy at all. In his impression, this should be a younger brother. He only had one sister, Princess Taiping, who was the last born by his mother. Why did he have a younger sister now? Was it premature?

Li Hong, who no longer walked unsteadily, sat down on the steps of the harem, his legs dangling and swaying from side to side, followed by two personal palace maids and eunuchs.

The four of them were already familiar with the temperament of this little adult. Although in front of His Majesty and the Concubine Zhaoyi, the Fifth Prince behaved no differently from a one- to two-year-old child, when the Fifth Prince was alone, he would from time to time reveal the maturity and demeanor of an adult.

Li Hong looked into the distance and saw Queen Wang, accompanied by palace maids and eunuchs, walking towards his mother's palace. She should be going to see his younger sister Li Si.

Li Hong looked at Queen Wang and her entourage, feeling indescribably irritated. However, he couldn't tell anyone about his irritation at the moment, and he couldn't express himself clearly, because he was not even two years old!

The twitching of the corners of his eyes was getting more and more intense, which made Li Hong feel deeply powerless. He didn't know what was going on, but he always felt like something big was going to happen.

He stood up, looked into the distance and sighed, then gestured for a eunuch named Hua Meng to come over, then stretched out his hand to ask the eunuch to pick him up, stretched out his little hand and turned around to point at the Big Wild Goose Pagoda in Chang'an city that was almost completed.

Hua Meng understood immediately and turned Li Hong in his arms around so that the Fifth Prince could see the Big Wild Goose Pagoda which was almost completed.

Li Hong stared at the Big Wild Goose Pagoda in a daze. Only then did he feel a little better about the irritability in his heart, but the twitching in the corners of his eyes became more and more intense.

No one knew how much time had passed. Hua Meng's arms were numb, but he did not dare to put the Fifth Prince down. Hua Meng could feel that the Fifth Prince seemed very upset, so he continued to hold Li Hong in his arms without saying a word.

"Your Highness the Fifth Prince, His Majesty invites you." A palace maid ran over in a panic, with a terrified look on her face, and said with her head down.

"Why make such a fuss?" This was the question asked by the palace maid Xia Zhi.

"I don't know. His Majesty asked me to quickly invite the Fifth Prince to go to Zhaoyi's palace." The maid lowered her head, her body trembling.

Li Hong silently signaled Hua Meng to put him down, walked up to the palace maid like a little adult, and looked up at the terrified and trembling palace maid.

"Hurry to my mother's palace." Li Hong had guessed what happened to Wu Mei in a flash. No wonder Wu Mei sent him out. It turned out that she had already started her conspiracy to frame Queen Wang.