Chapter 162 I'm Old

The hall was dead silent.

The concubine stood there, not knowing whether to stand up.

"Pour the wine!" The emperor urged, as if he was unaware.

"The Emperor!" the concubine whispered, "His Majesty is here."

"Oh?" The emperor opened his cloudy eyes and looked towards the hall.

After not seeing him for a few months, the retired emperor had aged a lot, with a head full of white hair and an old and frail figure, like an old lion.

The retired emperor's cloudy eyes flashed a glint of light, and then he lowered his eyes, "The emperor is here!"

Empress Changsun waved her hand, and the dancers and musicians quietly withdrew. The concubines of the retired emperor also withdrew silently with tact.

"Father!" Tian Khan ignored his father's sarcasm and bowed.

"What's the matter? Don't disturb me if there's nothing wrong! You are busy and I am busy too!" After a long silence, the emperor said coldly.

What stands between the two is the irreconcilable hatred of killing a son and seizing the throne. Every time they meet, it is torture for both of them, an unbearable thing they are unwilling to face.

"There are some rare items newly discovered in Lingnan. I thought your Majesty would like them, so I brought some here specially." Tian Khan said respectfully.

"I'm old now, so how can I have any hobbies? Take it back! I don't need it!" said the emperor indifferently.

"Aye, this is really good stuff, take a look!" Tian Khan insisted. Although he wanted to leave immediately, he was unwilling to do so.

The emperor didn't respond, and the father and son remained in silence.

Empress Zhangsun quietly nudged her eldest son. Li Chengqian understood and stepped forward, saying, "Aunt!"

"Great! Come here, let me take a look!" Seeing his grandson, the retired emperor's expression softened a little and he waved to him.

"Grandpa! Are you okay? Is the food and drink to your liking?" Li Chengqian sat next to the retired emperor and asked with concern.

"Good, good! Grandpa is fine. How about you? Are you studying hard?" The face of the retired emperor was kind, no longer cold.

Li Jiancheng's eldest son was only this old when he was killed. How could Erlang have the heart to do this? The child usually called him Second Uncle!

Thinking of this, the emperor felt a pang of pain in his heart.

So what if he conquered the world? The love between father and son was vulnerable in the face of imperial power!

"Grandfather, Gao Ming is studying hard and is now learning from the great scholar Lu Deming!" In front of his grandfather, Li Chengqian became much more casual.

In the past, a group of cousins ​​liked to gather at my grandfather's house to play after school, and the Taiji Palace was very lively at that time.

The cousins ​​fought and quarreled with each other, sometimes arguing and sometimes making up.

But suddenly one day, my uncles and aunts met in battle. When they met again, my father was covered in blood, walking out of the Taiji Palace on a sea of ​​blood and a mountain of corpses.

The cousins ​​disappeared overnight and the cousins ​​were imprisoned.

It was also on that night that the innocent boy grew up to maturity.

He knew that if Aye could not fight his way out, then it would be their Qin Palace and all the people who followed the Qin Palace that would disappear that night.

I understand that there is no family affection under imperial power.

He also had mixed feelings when facing his grandfather.

After all, they are generations apart, and it wasn't him who did it, so he doesn't have to bear the same heavy psychological burden as his father.

So he could face his grandfather calmly, even though he was a vested interest.

"Well, good boy!" The emperor looked at his grandson with empty eyes.

Through Li Chengqian, he was thinking about the children of Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, how old they should be now, and whether it was time to discuss marriage for them.

"Grandfather, the brown sugar sent from Lingnan is delicious!" Li Chengqian recommended it to the retired emperor.

"Really? Have you eaten it?" the emperor teased.

"Well, I've only tasted a tiny bit." Li Chengqian stretched out his little finger and said, "I'm not full! Grandpa and Grandma said to save some for you!"

"Hahaha, so pitiful? What else does our Li family need from you?" The emperor laughed and waved his hand, "Present it!"

Helan Rongrong handed the jar to the emperor's personal attendant.

When the lid was opened, the sweet aroma of sugarcane overflowed, moving the emperor.

The delicious sweet food passed down from the old Li family has such a rich and sweet taste that it instantly makes people feel much better.

"Uncle, does it smell good?" Li Chengqian leaned over.

He looked at the jar of brown sugar greedily and swallowed his saliva with a gulp.

"Hahaha! Little greedy cat!" The retired emperor looked at his grandson lovingly, "Your father and mother are so stingy! Come, let grandpa reward you!"

The emperor took out a piece of brown sugar from the jar and handed it to Li Chengqian.

"Thank you, Uncle!" Li Chengqian happily took it and took a light bite.

The refreshing sweetness spread from his mouth all the way to his heart. Li Chengqian squinted his eyes happily, "It's so sweet!"

The emperor also picked up a piece and sniffed it. It tasted better than the sugar paste. He took a light bite and found the crunchy texture and sweetness filled his mouth.

The grandfather and grandson savored the food carefully without paying attention to the people around them.

"Grandfather! Qingque wants to eat too!" The little fat boy Li Tai was so greedy when he saw his brother got a big piece.

"Come on!" The emperor, who had tasted the sweets, waved to the children, "Changle and Yuzhang have them!"

"Thank you, Uncle!" The children came over happily.

Each person had a piece of brown sugar, sat next to the emperor, ate the sugar and drank water, the scene was warm.

"Ah, my!" The ninth prince looked at his brothers and sisters who had food and drinks, and waved his chubby little hands, wanting some too.

"This is..." The retired emperor then noticed the Ninth Prince who had been standing behind him and looked at Empress Changsun's belly.

"Your Majesty, this is my ninth prince Chi Nu, who was born not long ago." Empress Chang Sun stepped forward and said.

"So soon? Look, I'm old and didn't even know!" The emperor laughed at himself and dropped the candy in his hand.

When the ninth prince was born, he, as the emperor, had no news at all.

"Zhi Nu is naughty and I'm afraid he will disturb my father!" Empress Changsun explained with a smile.

He took his youngest son and brought him to the Emperor, "Father, look! Chi Nu is so naughty. He cries when he doesn't have enough to eat or sleep. His voice could blow the roof off the Lizheng Palace. I wonder who he's yelling at."

"Ah!" The ninth prince opened his big black eyes.

He handed his chubby little hands covered with saliva to his grandfather, babbling and laughing foolishly with his toothless mouth.

Looking at the soft and adorable baby, the emperor's heart softened unconsciously. He reached out and touched the baby's head, "Looks like Erlang when he was a child."

These words moved everyone present.

"Aye!" Tian Khan knelt down in front of the retired emperor, his face full of admiration.

The Emperor looked at Er'er with a complicated look, one that contained pain, resentment, and love. After a long moment, he finally spoke, "Erlang!"

"Aye!" Tian Khan held his father's hand.

The father and son were silent again, each with mixed feelings.

"I'm sleepy, let's go back!" said the emperor after a long time.

"I want to spend more time with my father!" Tian Khan didn't want it to end so quickly. It was rare for the father and son to have melted some of the barriers.

"Go back, Erlang! I'm old! Old!" The emperor waved his hand, lay down on the couch and closed his eyes to rest.

"Aye, have a good rest! I'll take my leave!" Tian Khan gently covered the retired emperor with a brocade quilt.

Li Chengqian and others bowed to the retired emperor and took their leave. The huge hall was quiet and silent.