Chapter 323 Five Princes
To cover her tracks, Su Qingci claimed that she was "cold-blooded and unable to conceive," and adopted a baby girl from the orphanage, naming her Su Chen, who was one year older than the Crown Prince.
Li Qianyuan was quite gifted; he could recite the Thousand Character Classic at the age of three and understood the main points of the Analects by the age of five.
Li Yuanzhao also personally appointed Liu Liniang as the Crown Prince's tutor, teaching her the ways of being a ruler, the art of governing officials, and the ability to understand the people's hearts.
They also chose Su Qingci's adopted daughter and Ru Mo's second son as the Crown Prince's study companions, who grew up together from childhood.
In the following years, Li Yuanzhao successively "gave birth" to the second, third, and fourth princes...
All five princes were daughters; there were no sons.
This left some of the scheming courtiers utterly hopeless.
The princes not only looked different, but none of them resembled the concubines in the harem.
As time went on, many people gradually noticed something was amiss, but no one dared to investigate further.
Among them, the Crown Prince looks most like His Majesty, and has a very steady and patient personality, and does not like to quarrel with others.
When the eldest prince was nine years old, Li Yuanzhao was in high spirits and took his five sons on a spring hunt in the royal forest outside the capital.
In addition to their daily studies of classics, history, philosophy, and literature, these children...
From the age of three, she was taught basic martial arts by the Imperial Guard captains, began learning horsemanship at four, and started learning archery at five.
She personally taught him horseback archery skills.
Among all the children, the second prince, Li Ganxu, was just seven years old, but he was the most outstanding.
She had only been learning for a short time, yet she was already riding a horse with a steadiness that belied her age, and her accuracy in drawing a bow and shooting arrows was even better than that of the crown prince, who was two years older than her.
However, she is stubborn; once she sets her sights on something, she must get it.
At such a young age, she already displays a ruthlessness that is beyond her years.
During a hunting expedition in the forest, she took a liking to a pure white fox cub.
According to the rules of hunting, it is forbidden to kill cubs or hunt pregnant animals; this is out of respect for living beings.
But she didn't care about any rules, spurred her horse and chased after him, raising her hand to nock an arrow.
The prince tried to dissuade her, but she wouldn't listen and fired three arrows in succession.
But the fox was alert and disappeared into the bushes.
Li Ganxu's face instantly darkened. She felt that if her elder sister hadn't spoken up to stop her and missed her chance, she would have already hit the target.
Consumed by anger, she reached out and shoved the crown prince.
Caught completely off guard, the prince fell straight off his horse!
Fortunately, they were riding ponies, which were small and docile, and were not startled or trampled.
However, the prince fell heavily onto the grass, scraping his elbows and knees.
This scene was clearly seen by Li Yuanzhao, who was not far away.
When the eunuch announced the news, the two children were startled and immediately knelt down to admit their mistake.
Before Li Yuanzhao could even ask, the Crown Prince stepped forward and said that she had fallen off her horse accidentally, and it had nothing to do with his second sister.
Li Yuanzhao watched as the Crown Prince, despite having been wronged, still tried to cover for his sister.
She glanced at Li Ganxu again, and even so, there was no trace of guilt in his eyes.
Only then did they begin to pay attention to the issue of children's education.
She was busy with official duties on weekdays, and aside from that, she did whatever she pleased and rarely paid attention to the children, leaving them all to be raised by the palace maids.
Initially, it did not go unchallenged.
After all, it has always been mothers who support their husbands and raise their children, and there are few precedents of fathers taking care of children.
Moreover, she's a daughter, growing up with her father. What kind of person can she become?
Li Yuanzhao initially didn't think there was anything wrong with her father's upbringing; after all, she was also raised by Li Ye himself.
Her father, who is condemned in historical records, taught her the way of being a ruler and governing a country, which made her the empress she is today.
But now, looking at her daughters, she was surprised to realize that beyond blood ties, temperament could also be "inherited" in this way.
Her inherent cold-blooded selfishness is indeed exactly the same as Li Ye's.
Now, the Crown Prince, personally mentored by Pei Huaijin, is exactly the same in terms of composure and benevolence.
Such kindness makes her a good sister, but not a good emperor.
In the future, when facing a court full of civil and military officials and aggressive men, it won't be good to continue being so easy to talk to.
She raised so many daughters at the same time to ensure her safety.
Just as a farmer sows many seeds, there will always be one that grows into a useful tree.
Looking at them now, these seedlings do indeed grow in all sorts of shapes and sizes.
In terms of natural talent, the second prince is undoubtedly the most outstanding, mastering everything he learns instantly.
However, he is stubborn and obstinate, ruthless, and can hurt others as well as himself.
The third prince is cunning and always has a smile on his face, making him likable.
The fourth prince was poor at studying and terrible at riding and archery, yet he was carefree and irresponsible, a hopeless case.
The fifth prince was the youngest, still an infant, and his temperament was yet to be discerned.
And the Crown Prince...
This child lacks the sharpness of the second prince, the cunning of the third prince, and the laziness of the fourth prince...
But of all the princes, she had the highest expectations for him.
Therefore, after this incident, Li Yuanzhao brought the crown prince to his side and personally taught him.
She also assigned a teacher to the Second Prince.
This teacher was none other than Tu Qing, the Right Chancellor of the current dynasty.
Tu Qing was the first top scholar in the imperial examination after Li Yuanzhao ascended the throne. He enjoyed immense prestige and was hailed as "the greatest writer in the world".
He successively served as a compiler in the Hanlin Academy, vice minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, right remonstrator, vice minister of the Ministry of Rites, and minister of the Ministry of Rites.
At the age of thirty-two, he was appointed Right Chancellor, sharing the position with Su Qingci.
Tu Qing had always followed Liu Jinzhang and regarded him as her mentor. She was also on good terms with Xue Nanzhi, the Minister of Revenue, in the court. Their husbands were brothers from the same family.
However, after she became prime minister, her style became increasingly radical.
She was well aware of the difficulties women faced in entering officialdom and advocated for further strengthening women's power, expanding the scope of female officials' positions, and even suggesting reducing the authority of male officials and entrusting all core positions to women.
In her view, the current prosperous era of the Great Qi Dynasty was won by women with their blood and sweat, and they must not allow those male officials to have a chance to fight back, nor should they allow the hard-won equal status to be lost.
Therefore, she always maintained a tough stance in court, and whenever she encountered a dispute with a male official, she would argue her case forcefully and refuse to give an inch.
Su Qingci, on the other hand, was steady in his actions and advocated the doctrine of the mean.
She believed that gender equality was the foundation of His Majesty's new policies. The way to govern a country lies in balance, not extremes. Excessive suppression of male officials would only exacerbate conflicts and cause turmoil in the court.
The two factions each held their own views, and neither side had the upper hand.
Now, His Majesty has appointed Tu Xiang as the tutor of the Second Prince, which shows the profound meaning behind it.
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