225 Chapter 225
◎Surprise.◎
Li Chengqian stepped over the threshold, raised his eyebrows and smiled, asking, "We in the Li Tang Dynasty still have a lot of trivial matters to deal with. Do you want your son to marry your father's concubine and become the queen, or do you want your father to seize your son's wife and become the imperial concubine?"
Li Shimin: “…”
"If you don't want to say it, don't say it. Why are you saying this on purpose..." Li Shimin patted his chest and asked in shock, "Cheng Qian, what you said is not true, right?"
Are you just trying to scare him?
Li Chengqian looked at Tian Khan sympathetically: "Unfortunately, it's true."
Li Shimin: “…”
Tian Khan felt like he was having trouble breathing. Was this all true? It was all true!
Li Chengqian patted his chest and thought to himself, I haven't told you yet that it was your youngest son Zhinu who married my father's concubine as queen. If you hear such jokes from later generations about the elder and younger Li queens, you will probably faint.
"This little gossip is not important. You just need to know one thing: the Tang Dynasty is very powerful, extremely, especially powerful." Li Chengqian felt that he still had to comfort Tian Khan, otherwise there would be no powerful and prosperous Tang Dynasty.
But Tian Khan's train of thought had already strayed. He trembled and said, "So, these things... are known to everyone?"
Although Tian Khan did not know that he was a party to one of the stories, the thought of his descendants doing such things in the future was enough to give him a heart attack.
"Uh..." Li Chengqian paused, "But...but people aren't treating this as a scandal. Uh, they just think it's... Father, calm down. How about we first discuss how to build the Great Tang Dynasty's Zhenguan Era of Prosperity?"
"No," Li Shimin said with a firm look in his eyes. "Let's first discuss whether the Imperial Academy should teach more about the Book of Rites and the Book of Filial Piety."
Li Chengqian opened his mouth: "Okay..."
Although countless historical lessons tell us that preventing problems before they occur is usually futile, Tian Khan wanted psychological comfort, so... since it was not Li Chengqian he wanted to learn from, he had no objection.
Li Chengqian blurted out these two sentences with the intention of preventing Tian Khan from asking further questions, but he did not expect that it would stimulate Tian Khan too much. He began to pay close attention to the education of the children in the palace. In addition to his own princes, his younger brothers also suffered, and the princesses' schoolwork doubled.
The first person to vote in favor was Li Yuan. He was not afraid that Li Shimin would be strict with his younger brothers, he was just afraid that Li Shimin would not care. Although the children were wailing now, it showed that the second emperor still cared about these little brothers and would certainly be willing to take better care of them in the future. Li Yuan was very satisfied with this.
Changsun also agreed with the opinion. After all, with the children having more homework, her ears were indeed much quieter.
Li Chengqian couldn't help but sigh, as expected, only children are happy when they have less homework during the holidays.
Along with the children's complaints, summer came again. Before Li Shimin prepared to go to Jiucheng Palace to escape the summer heat, he respectfully invited the emperor as per the custom. Li Yuan had always refused in the past, but for some reason he agreed this year.
Li Shimin was confused, so he sent Li Chengqian to ask him while he was on the road, and even granted him two days of vacation in addition to his rest.
"Just two days?" Li Chengqian raised his finger to bargain with him. "Such a difficult task, Father, how about giving me two more days?"
Li Shimin bent his little finger back and said, "Just three days, no more. There's been a lot going on lately. Have you forgotten the flood in August?"
Li Chengqian muttered, "You can handle these matters yourself."
Natural disasters affect the lives of ordinary people, and Li Chengqian truly couldn't just sit back and do nothing. Therefore, he only grumbled a few words before continuing, "Repairing the dam is important, but we also have to prevent people from passing off inferior goods as good ones, and we also have to stop them from exploiting the people at every level."
Li Shimin nodded and said, "I am drawing up a list and will have people go to various places to inspect it when the time comes."
"We can let them go on a secret visit." Li Chengqian said, glancing at the sun above his head. "The convoy is about to stop. I'll go find Aung first and we'll discuss other matters when I come back."
Li Yuan's carriage was very luxurious. When Li Chengqian climbed in on a stool, he was drowsy. A little palace maid was massaging his legs. Hearing the sound, Li Yuan slowly opened his eyes.
"Cheng Qian?" Li Yuan felt vaguely and found that the carriage had stopped. "Oh, it's time for lunch."
Li Chengqian said with a smile, "We just stopped the car, so we have to wait a while. Uncle, how about I help you down to loosen up your muscles?"
After sitting in the carriage for half a day, Li Yuan was indeed very tired, so he said, "Okay."
The convoy stopped by a river, and Li Chengqian helped Li Yuan walk on a relatively flat path.
Li Chengqian said, "It must have been stepped on by someone nearby. Uncle, you've never been here, have you?"
Li Yuan laughed and said, "Why haven't I been here before? When I was in Chang'an City, your father didn't even exist!"
"Aunt, you were born in Chang'an. Of course, my father wasn't around back then." Li Chengqian said with a smile, "So you must be tired of staying in Chang'an. Then why did you agree to go to Jiucheng Palace with us this time? You've been there before."
Li Yuan glanced at him and said with a smile, "You're too impatient. You've revealed your true intentions so quickly."
Li Chengqian was seen through at once, but he didn't take it personally: "You are not my enemy, why should I hide anything?"
Li Yuan smiled and said to him: "Didn't I say before that I don't know how many more years I can live, so I should enjoy what I have."
Previously, Li Yuan refused to go to Jiucheng Palace with Li Shimin to escape the summer heat because of the unhappiness between father and son. Now those things still stand between the father and son, but Li Yuan is old and thinks it is better not to put himself in a difficult position just to be angry with his son.
Li Chengqian accepted this answer well, but Li Shimin was stunned for a moment after hearing the retelling.
Li Chengqian didn't know what he was thinking. After all, Tian Khan didn't do anything unusual afterwards, and there was no sign of improvement in the relationship between him and the retired emperor.
Since Li Chengqian himself could not handle the relationship between his father and son, he was even more helpless about the relationship between his father and grandfather. Therefore, he could only pretend that he had done nothing and it was more important to focus on his official duties.
By August, the dam built in advance to prevent floods did play a big role, but natural disasters are sometimes beyond human control. Floods still occurred in some places. Li Shimin sent people to provide disaster relief while investigating the causes. Natural disasters cannot be overcome by human power, but human factors cannot make them irresistible.
In the harem, Changsun saw that the father and son were busy and did not even take a rest on their usual days off. She felt distressed but could not persuade them to take a break. After all, this was a matter of life and death. She could only send the Shangshi Bureau to stew some supplements for the emperor and the prince.
That day, Li Chengqian finished a bowl of chicken soup, touched his belly, and said, "Mother, I think I've taken too much tonic. Look at all this fat on my belly..."
Chang Sun rubbed his belly and said with a smile, "That's good. I often tell your father that you are too thin. It would be great if you could add some meat."
Li Shimin put down his bowl, nodded and smiled, "This doesn't count as meat. You should eat more."
Li Chengqian rolled his eyes slightly and said, "No, I've been too busy lately and haven't had time to exercise. Starting tomorrow... no, starting today, I'm going to make time to exercise every day!"
"You can exercise, but you can't reduce your diet," said Changsun. "Your uncle just sent two squabs today. I'll make soup for you tomorrow."
"Mother, please eat," Li Chengqian said hurriedly. "You seem to have lost weight. Is it because of the summer that your appetite is poor?"
Chang Sun smiled and said, "It's inevitable in summer. I've asked the Imperial Food Bureau to prepare some sweet and sour appetizers."
"Cheng Qian and I will stay for dinner today." Li Shimin looked at her and said, "Guanyin, please don't hide anything from me. If you feel unwell, you must tell me."
Zhang Sun said helplessly, "There's nothing wrong with me. If you don't believe me, go ask the imperial physician."
Li Shimin patted her hand and said with a smile, "Of course I believe you, but I'm afraid you'll think I'm worried and won't tell me."
"We meet every day. Even if I am afraid that you will worry, how can I hide it from you? It is better to tell you from the beginning so that you won't worry!" Changsun said with a smile.
Li Chengqian covered his eyes and murmured, "I'm a little bright."
Li Shimin didn't hear what he said clearly, so he asked, "Cheng Qian, what are you talking about by yourself?"
"When they say you two are showing affection, I have to look and listen to nothing inappropriate." Li Chengqian said expressionlessly.
Li Shimin raised his hand and knocked on his head, laughing, "You even dare to make fun of your father and mother! Guanyin, Cheng Qian is getting married this year, and it's time to think about marriage. I'm busy lately, so you should look for a suitable girl first."
Chang Sun nodded and smiled, "Okay, that's exactly what I was thinking."
Li Chengqian also nodded: "Yes."
"Hmm?" Li Shimin asked in surprise, "Guanyinbi, did I hear wrongly? Cheng Qian is willing?"
Chang Sun was also very surprised: "Yes, you didn't say no rush this time, Cheng Qian, are you really willing?"
Li Chengqian was helpless: "I said no hurry, it's not okay now that I'm willing. Mother, I really don't know if I should be willing or not."
"Yes, yes, yes! As long as you agree!" Li Shimin said with a smile, "Oh, Cheng Qian is willing. We have to choose carefully. After the coming-of-age ceremony this year, he will marry next year. Guanyin maid, we will have grandchildren the year after!"
Li Chengqian: "..."
How can you jump to having a grandchild when you haven’t even gotten married?
But the emperor and the empress were in sync and obviously both thought of that beautiful future. This was why the selection of the Crown Princess needed to be cautious and the Crown Prince's wedding needed to be prepared, otherwise the emperor and the empress would have wanted Li Chengqian to enter the bridal chamber tonight.
Li Chengqian listened to their imagination for a long time. The more he listened, the more he felt that he shouldn't have agreed. It would cause endless troubles.
However, privately, Li Chengqian still told Tian Khan about his preferred candidate for the Crown Princess, Su Yao, the daughter of Su Tan, his Crown Princess in his previous life.
Li Chengqian has been trying to hide the matter from his mother, so he can only let Tian Khan tell her about such things.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com