227 Chapter 227
◎ Granting marriage and establishing a fiefdom. ◎
enemy……
Li Shimin pondered over the two words and had to admit that Cheng Qian was right. If he continued to let things go, his two sons would only become enemies.
What Li Shimin tried so hard to avoid was heading towards its destined ending. Will it be just as Cheng Qian said? Only... only he can stop it.
"Next year..." Li Shimin said, "Let Qingque be enfeoffed."
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Chengqian sat up straight and asked in disbelief, "What did you say?"
Li Shimin looked at him and said firmly, "After the New Year, all the older princes will be assigned to their fiefdoms, including Qingque."
Let Li Tai leave Chang'an City and completely eliminate all his thoughts of competing with his elder brother. No matter what he wants, he can no longer think about it.
Li Chengqian remembered that in his previous life, there were princes and princes who were granted fiefdoms. Among them were the brothers and sons of the Khan, but Li Tai was definitely not among them.
Tian Khan was reluctant to let his Qingque leave his side.
Li Chengqian confirmed, "Should Qingque leave Chang'an? The prince cannot enter the capital without an imperial edict. You won't be able to see him every day from now on."
Although Li Tai has now moved out of the palace and established his own residence, he still goes to the palace to see Tian Khan every day. There is not much difference from when he lived in the palace.
But it was no longer possible after leaving Chang'an City. From then on, if Tian Khan wanted to see Li Tai again, he had to issue an imperial decree. Even Li Tai could not stay in Chang'an for too long, otherwise the memorials from the remonstrators would drown Tian Khan.
——Of course, Tian Khan can ignore it. It was such a harmless little thing in the previous life. Tian Khan didn’t live in Wude Hall, so he never cared about it.
Li Shimin sighed, "Chengqian, Aye said that he only wants you two brothers to be well."
Li Chengqian curled his lips and said, "Since you think you are willing to give it up..."
But how long can this willingness to give up last?
Except for the crown prince, Tian Khan did not reveal the matter of the vassalage to anyone outside. Li Tai, who did not know that he was about to leave Chang'an, still went to the palace every day. Now his son Li Xin was two years old and walked and talked very steadily, so he also brought his son to the palace to please the emperor and empress.
Li Tai believed that since his father loved him, he could eventually gain his place in the imperial court. Once he could enter the court, Li Tai would be able to fully display his talents. Then everyone would know that the sage had other capable sons besides the crown prince.
As the first grandson of the emperor and empress, Li Xin was indeed loved by his grandparents, but just as no matter how much Li Shimin loved his Qingque, he had to make a decision when necessary, no matter how good the grandson was, he could not change Li Shimin's determination.
Because this not only involves Li Shimin's two sons, but also the country and people of the Tang Dynasty.
…
After the crown prince is crowned, he can no longer hide behind the scenes. Li Chengqian must stand officially in the Taiji Hall.
The good news was that Tian Khan's loyal ministers had often seen the Crown Prince at his place and were accustomed to Li Chengqian's way of speaking and doing things. They had even consoled each other many times over his rather unremarkable handwriting. No one is perfect, and if the Crown Prince possessed all his abilities, without even a single flaw, how could the world hold on to such a person? This was the Crown Prince the Tang Dynasty needed!
Seeing that the bigwigs in front were so calm, those who rarely saw the prince behind him started to wonder if they were being too surprised. Was it normal for the prince to be like this?
In short, there are currently no problems with Li Chengqian's appearance in the court.
But there was also bad news, that is, Fang Xuanling discovered that the prince was actually cheating!
This time, the Prince's Secretary in the Eastern Palace was Du Ruhui. Fang Xuanling did not have a part-time job in the Eastern Palace, so he did not have much interaction with Li Chengqian and should not have had the opportunity to discover this matter.
However, he had a good relationship with Du Ruhui. Once, he discovered that the prince's reply letter to Du Ruhui was written in a sharp and beautiful handwriting, which was comparable to that of the saint!
Fang Xuanling was shocked. Du Ruhui could not cover it up. After all, the seal of the prince was on it. He could only admit that it was written by the prince himself. He had seen the prince's handwriting, and it was indeed beautiful.
However, Du Ruhui didn't know what conditions had to be met to obtain the prince's good calligraphy.
When more than one person knows something, it means that more people will know about it, and soon these top officials began to secretly compare the prince's handwriting.
In the end, everyone discovered that there were quite a few people who could inherit the prince's beautiful handwriting. Du Ruhui was one of them, Chu Suiliang was one of them, and military generals such as Li Jing and Yuchi Jingde always wrote back to the prince in neat and beautiful handwriting, no matter whether they were in the capital or not.
Although Changsun Wuji, his uncle, did not receive a good calligraphy from the prince, it still comforted Fang Xuanling and others.
However, these are not the only things. What everyone cannot understand the most is why Wei Zheng can also be favored by the prince?
Yes, now they think that they will write good calligraphy for whoever the prince likes.
But they soon thought otherwise, for the saint discovered their discussion and joined in.
However, the saint did not get a good name either.
Everyone: “…”
How should I put it? Maybe the prince just writes nice words for whoever he dislikes...
For example... For example, Wei Zheng! Wei Zheng is really annoying...
Wei Zheng said, "If the Saint is curious, why doesn't he ask His Highness himself?"
Oh, I forgot Wei Zheng is here too.
Li Shimin shook his head and smiled, saying, "You don't know, the Crown Prince is very tight-lipped. If he doesn't want to say anything, unless the Queen asks, even I can't do anything about it."
It is not easy to be an Aye, and the same is true for a saint. Everyone couldn't help but sigh.
Li Shimin waved his hand and said with a smile: "Forget it, it's not a big deal. Stop talking about it. Otherwise, if the prince knows about it, I'm afraid no one will be able to see this handwriting anymore."
Everyone nodded sympathetically. This word was pleasing to the eye, and they didn't want to never see it again.
In addition, the prince's wedding was also on the agenda. Everyone knew that the emperor and empress had already started to choose a wife for the prince, but no one knew which girl they had their eyes on.
People didn't speculate for long. In early November, Li Shimin issued an edict to appoint the eldest daughter of Secretary Su Tan as Crown Princess, and the wedding date was set for the first month of the following year.
Because the emperor and empress both revealed that this was the candidate that the prince was satisfied with, many people expressed envy when they mentioned the Su family and the Su family's daughters.
Looking at the saint's favors to the Yue family, it is easy to imagine that being the crown prince's family must have also brought them some benefits.
After the Khan of Heaven issued the decree, Li Chengqian asked his mother to let Mrs. Su bring their eldest daughter into the palace. He met his fiancée for the first time in Lizheng Hall.
Li Chengqian prepared glassware and ornaments in advance, as well as fine porcelain, silks, satins, gems and pearls as gifts.
Before meeting the Su family, Li Shimin laughed and said, "Hey, who was it that said there was no rush a few years ago, and who is it that has prepared all these gifts so eagerly now?"
Li Chengqian held his chin and said, "Father, do you want to laugh at me? I am not ashamed to please my own Crown Princess."
Changsun pursed her lips and smiled, "Erlang, you can't laugh at our Cheng Qian. He's not a shy person."
Li Chengqian loosened his grip, tilted his head, and said in a muffled voice, "Mother, it seems you are not speaking for me."
"Your mother said you were thick-skinned." Li Shimin laughed, "Hurry up and sit down, or your Crown Princess will dislike you."
After chatting and laughing for a while, someone came in to report that the Su family mother and daughter had arrived.
Li Chengqian was fifteen years old this year, and Su Yao was even younger than him, only thirteen. In ancient times, people used the lunar calendar to calculate age, so Su Yao was actually only twelve years old, the same age as Li Lizhi. By the time of their wedding in the first month of the following year, Su Yao would barely be fourteen.
Because he got married in the ninth year of Zhenguan in his previous life, Li Chengqian was not very opposed to this time point. However, he thought that the issue of having children could be postponed.
Although Su Yao is young, she is well-mannered. When she was at home, her mother had always told her not to talk too much in front of the Holy Queen, but the Prince always talked to her, so Su Yao had to talk a lot.
Fortunately, her mother smiled at her softly with encouragement in her eyes, and Su Yao was not so nervous when talking to the prince.
The prince was very famous in Chang'an City. Everyone said that he was wise and intelligent. Su Yao thought he was a serious and mature man. After knowing that she was married to the prince, she was a little nervous and didn't know how to get along with the prince in the future. But when she saw him today, she found that the prince was just a lively young man like her.
After having lunch in the palace, before Su Yao left with her mother, the prince gave her several boxes of gifts. The saint and the queen asked them not to refuse, saying that it was the prince's intention.
After leaving the palace and getting on the carriage, Su Yao looked at her mother and smiled lightly. She stroked her hair, tears in her eyes and said softly, "Good child."
In the Lizheng Hall, the emperor and empress were very satisfied with their future daughter-in-law, and began to fantasize about having grandchildren.
In such a cheerful atmosphere, the Tang Dynasty ushered in the New Year of the eighth year of Zhenguan. After a few lively days, the Heavenly Khan issued an edict for several older princes, including King Ke of Shu, King Tai of Yue, and King You of Yan, to take up their fiefdoms, and the time was set after the first month of the year.
The others had known that this day would come and accepted the emperor's edict calmly, but Li Tai was the only one who felt like he was struck by lightning.
Li Tai never thought that these two words would be related to him. How could Aye be willing to let him leave Chang'an!
Absolutely impossible!
Therefore, less than half an hour after the decree was issued, Li Shimin saw the crying Li Tai in the Lizheng Hall.
"Ye Ye!" Li Tai threw himself into his father's arms and cried, "It was the retired emperor who forbade me to be Ye Ye's son. Now Ye Ye himself doesn't want Qing Que anymore?"
When Li Tai was young, he was adopted by Li Yuan to be the heir of Li Xuanba. Later, when Li Shimin ascended the throne, he chose someone else to succeed him. However, because Li Tai had been adopted out, Li Shimin felt more pity for this son.
But when it was brought up at this moment, when Li Shimin knew that Li Tai would definitely not want to leave Beijing, in addition to his love for his son, Li Shimin could not help but feel more uneasy.
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