183 Chapter 183
◎Grandparents and grandchildren.
Feeling so relieved, Li Shimin agreed that his eldest son would not have a study companion. Thinking about it later, he felt that he was a little abnormal. Why did he accept it more when his eldest son was not good at speaking nicely?
Isn't this a little strange?
While Li Shimin was reflecting, the celebration banquet began.
For the Tang Dynasty, this was a celebration banquet, but for the Turks, it was quite humiliating.
Emperor Li Yuan had suffered at the hands of the Turks. Although he disliked everything about the emperor, he felt extremely happy every time he saw the two Turkic khans having to smile, so he raised his glass again and again.
Unfortunately, the Tang Dynasty only won a small victory, and Li Chengqian did not get to see their singing and dancing. Moreover, in order to show his filial piety, the emperor personally helped the drunken emperor to rest, and he also asked Li Chengqian to follow him to show his filial piety.
Li Chengqian did not dare to disobey the order in public, so he had to go over and support Li Yuan's other arm.
Li Yuan was quite tall, and had gained some weight due to his pampered lifestyle in recent years. Even when drunk, he was very heavy, and it took a lot of effort to lift him up. If Li Chengqian had not made considerable progress in martial arts training recently, he probably wouldn't have been able to support the fat old man.
When they reached a place with few people, Li Shimin immediately asked his followers to replace the King of Zhongshan, but he did not replace anyone on his side, and continued to support his father tirelessly.
Li Yuan was indeed very drunk. He suddenly began to mumble the names of Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji. Li Chengqian, who was swinging his arms, heard the sound and looked in the direction. The Khan's face had indeed turned dark.
My dear father, Li Chengqian thought, you really know how to bring up things that are not relevant to the topic. Your son’s filial piety will soon disappear.
As expected, Li Shimin immediately called someone to replace him, and he walked aside in silence.
The emperor remained silent, and naturally no one dared to speak. They went all the way to the emperor's bedroom and carefully served him to sleep. Then the emperor took the King of Zhongshan away, and only then did the people serving the emperor dare to relax a little.
When they reached the East Palace, Li Shimin's complexion improved. He rubbed his brows and suddenly said, "Cheng Qian, you believe in Aye."
His meaning was very clear, and under the moonlight, Li Chengqian could see his expression clearly.
If I go back with this expression, my mother will be worried again.
Li Chengqian said, "It's useless for me to believe it. When you say that, don't you believe in yourself?"
Provoking the Khan shouldn't have worked, but it also depends on the timing. The drunken Khan shuddered and immediately said, "Of course I have confidence!"
"That's it." Li Chengqian spread his hands, "You need to work harder."
Being encouraged by his eldest son was a kind of proof to Li Shimin. He was extremely excited, and with the help of alcohol, he held him in his arms lovingly and said with relief: "Chengqian, good boy, Aye knows that you and I are of the same mind!"
Li Chengqian: "..."
Once Tian Khan got drunk, Li Chengqian was obviously unable to cope. He called on his followers to come and support the emperor, and a group of people hurriedly sent him back to the bedroom.
The children all went back to sleep, only Changsun was still waiting for her husband to return.
Li Chengqian said, "Mother, my father is drunk and I'm afraid he can't bathe. It would be better if he stayed on the couch outside to sleep, so that he wouldn't be bothered by the fumes."
Before Changsun could say anything, the emperor patted Li Chengqian on the shoulder and laughed loudly, "Good boy!"
Chang Sun couldn't help laughing: "He can't take a bath, I asked someone to wipe him. Your father must be so happy today that he got drunk."
There was indeed some happiness in him, but it was only after Li Yuan's stimulation that the full effect of the alcohol took effect.
In summary, it’s all Li Yuan’s fault.
It was getting late, and Changsun urged her eldest son to go back and rest, saying that she would take care of the emperor. Li Chengqian had no choice but to obey his mother and leave first.
The emperor was drunk, and even if he could ask others to help him wash and dress, the empress would still have to take the trouble to look after him. It was unknown when she would be able to fall asleep.
Li Chengqian decided to go and pay his respects to the retired emperor tomorrow.
As the saying goes, trouble comes from the mouth, and everything that happened tonight started with Li Yuan's words.
…
The next day.
Li Yuan, who was hungover, was having his forehead rubbed to relieve his fatigue when suddenly a person walked in and the palace servants did not dare to stop him.
"Greetings, Grandfather." Li Chengqian bowed meticulously.
The palace maid knelt and said, "Please forgive me, Your Majesty. I was unable to stop the King of Zhongshan."
Li Yuan was deeply distressed and spoke harshly: "After all, father and son are of the same bloodline."
"It's the same bloodline passed down from father to son." Li Chengqian said with a smile, "As the Grand Emperor does, so does the Saint."
They are all biased.
Li Yuan didn't understand what was said and was too lazy to respond. He just opened his mouth and gestured for someone to feed him a sip of tea.
Li Chengqian consciously found a place to sit down and asked someone to bring him goat milk and snacks.
The palace servant glanced at the retired emperor cautiously. It was true that the Prince of Zhongshan was the eldest son of the sage, but the retired emperor held a high position of loyalty and filial piety. At least on the surface, it was not appropriate for the palace servant to go over the retired emperor to curry favor with the Prince of Zhongshan.
Fortunately, Li Chengqian had no intention of embarrassing the palace servants. He asked Li Yuan, "Are you willing to let your grandson sit there doing nothing?"
Li Yuan was quite willing to give it up, but he just needed a way out. Since Li Chengqian gave it to him, he nodded and said, "Go."
Li Chengqian smiled and said, "Thank you, old man."
Li Yuan had a severe headache and didn't want to engage in witty conversation, so he said, "If you have nothing else, have some snacks and then go back."
"It's just a small matter." Li Chengqian asked, "Aunt, do you remember what you said when you were drunk last night?"
"What?" Li Yuan asked in confusion.
Even if the servants around him heard it, no one dared to mention those two people in front of the emperor. The emperor might not blame him, but if he behaved in a different way and it got to the saint's ears, no one would be able to bear the consequences.
Li Chengqian said, "You called out the names of your eldest uncle and fourth uncle. Forget about your eldest uncle. If it weren't for his second brother being so rebellious, he would have been a very qualified crown prince. But your fourth uncle is such a jerk. I'm curious, Aung, is there anything worth remembering about him?"
After these words were spoken, the hall fell into a deep silence. Li Yuan was stunned for a moment before he rebuked, "How dare you! How dare you disrespect... disrespect your elders!"
Li Chengqian smiled and said, "Elders must set an example first before younger generations will respect them. For an elder like Fourth Uncle, why should I respect him? Should I respect him for abandoning the city and fleeing in the face of a powerful enemy? Or should I respect him for sowing discord and repeatedly attempting to murder my brother?"
Li Yuan was speechless.
Li Chengqian continued, "Aunt, if Fourth Uncle hadn't been stirring things up, the situation between you, your uncle, and your father might not have gotten to that point. He's the real culprit, and yet you're still on his side. What a deep father-son bond."
This was of course just a casual remark by Li Chengqian to irritate someone. Li Yuanji could barely be considered a catalyst, not a fuse.
"Nonsense!" Li Yuan was furious. "The Xuanwu Gate Incident was caused by the King of Qin coveting the throne and committing rebellion. He murdered his brothers and threatened his own father. He is disloyal and unfilial, a traitor and a traitor!"
"Wow." Li Chengqian clapped his hands. "That's very well said."
Li Yuan, who had been provoked to the point of losing his mind, regained some consciousness. He clenched his fists and demanded, "What exactly do you want to do?"
Li Chengqian tilted his head and said honestly, "I wanted to make you unhappy."
Li Yuan was furious: "I...you..."
"Calm down, Grandfather." Li Chengqian advised gently, "I was counting on you to give me a few more uncles."
Li Yuan rubbed his forehead and fell on the couch, pointing at Li Chengqian and saying, "Get out."
Li Chengqian said, "I can leave, but you can't call the imperial physician, otherwise people will think I've made you sick. But you can complain to my father-in-law and have him punish me in private."
Although Li Chengqian didn't care about his reputation, he didn't want his mother to hear that he had angered the retired emperor.
Li Yuan sneered, "You've acted so unfilially and yet you still want to preserve your reputation. It's true that you and the King of Qin are father and son!"
"Alas." Li Chengqian sighed, "Let me remind you again, old man, the Prince of Qin is now the emperor."
Li Yuan snorted coldly.
Li Chengqian said to himself, "Then let's settle the score. Seeing you so angry makes me feel much calmer."
"So you came to me to vent your anger? You really are worthy of being..." Li Chengqian interrupted Li Yuan before he could finish his words.
"The son of the King of Qin, right?" Li Chengqian asked. "Ah, is the King of Qin an adjective?"
"Well, Aung, I think we're quite similar in some ways. How about you listen to my advice?" Li Chengqian said as he sat down next to Li Yuan with goat milk in his hand and asked him, "Would you like to try it?"
Li Yuan: “…”
For the first time in his life, Li Yuan was almost angry to death. He was not so furious even on the day of the Xuanwu Gate Incident - after all, fear prevailed at that time.
"Then I'll drink it myself." Li Chengqian swallowed a mouthful of milk and said, "Aunt, think positively. You have good food and drink right now, and there's also the Taiji Hall where you can play as you please. Your son has done very well. You should be content. Contentment is the key to happiness."
"These should have belonged to me!" He should have been the emperor, and it was natural for him to enjoy all this. Why did he make it sound like the second son was so filial!
Li Chengqian shrugged: "Then the position of Crown Prince should have belonged to my father."
Li Yuan immediately retorted: "He is the second son and has an older brother. It shouldn't be his turn."
Li Chengqian laughed: "Aunt, if that's the case, how did you get the throne? Was it passed down to you by your great-grandfather?"
Li Yuan was speechless again.
"You see, the world has always been ruled by those with the ability. This principle didn't start with my father, and it won't end here." Li Chengqian said with a smile, "When Qin lost its power, the whole world chased it. This has never changed since ancient times."
Li Yuan could not refute this statement. It was because of the chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty that the Tang Dynasty came into being.
Li Chengqian put down his bowl and said, "After discussing the big principles, Aung, let's talk about some small principles."
"You just mentioned loyalty and filial piety, old man, but you're not qualified to talk about that. After all, when you forced Yang You to abdicate, you didn't talk about loyalty and filial piety to him. You can't just talk about loyalty and filial piety when you need to stand on the moral high ground to criticize others, right?"
Li Yuan didn't respond for a long while. After Li Chengqian had eaten half a plate of snacks, he suddenly laughed and said, "Those who steal a hook will be executed, and those who steal a country will become princes."
"You dare to say these words now, Cheng Qian, good boy, but you must also act with loyalty, filial piety, chastity and righteousness in the future."
"Yeah, everyone is so hypocritical." Li Chengqian nodded. He turned to look at Li Yuan and asked in surprise, "Aunt, you don't look angry anymore? Do you still want to complain to my father?"
This was a strange question, but Li Yuan clearly no longer had the energy to fight his eldest grandson. He waved his hands wearily and said, "If you want to piss me off, come back tomorrow. I'm exhausted today."
Li Chengqian: "..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
