When Li Shimin heard his grandson's aggrieved accusations, he felt as if his heart had been slashed hard with a long-handled sword, the pain almost making it hard for him to breathe.
He wanted to defend himself, but then he thought that what the child said was not wrong. His father and mother were killed by him, the old man.
If I hadn't banished them to Qianzhou, they wouldn't have died!
"Your grandfather is a real scoundrel..."
"Yeah, yeah, he's the worst kind of jerk!"
"It's all his fault! If he hadn't sided with my fourth uncle, my father wouldn't have been driven to his death, sob sob sob..."
"well!"
"Good child, let's not cry anymore..."
"Mmm!"
Li Shimin hugged his eldest grandson tightly, then gently patted the child's back. Whether the child was truly exhausted or simply tired from crying, his breathing soon became even.
Tears still clung to his eyelashes, and his nose twitched occasionally, showing that even in his sleep, his mind was still unsettled.
Li Shimin coaxed his eldest grandson to sleep, then got up and went to the courtyard, where he sat in the cool moonlight, lost in thought.
Zhang Anan had been keeping an eye on the bedroom. When he saw His Majesty not sleeping in the middle of the night and running out to look at the moon, he immediately followed out out of curiosity.
"Master, what's wrong?"
"I can't sleep!"
"I just got a lecture from my eldest grandson..."
"Oh oh oh!"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Anan immediately moved a brick and sat down next to Li Shimin.
"Your Majesty, it is not that this old servant is being presumptuous, but you were indeed too harsh on His Highness the Crown Prince back then..."
Upon hearing this, Li Shimin was immediately displeased and frowned as he asked.
What do you mean by that?
"From childhood to adulthood, I have never laid a finger on Chengqian. Is this considered being harsh on him?"
Zhang Anan smiled bitterly upon hearing this.
“Your Majesty, your harshness lies not in the beatings, but in your words and attitude.”
"Your Majesty, please consider how many years it has been since you spoke kindly to Chengqian, and how many years it has been since you praised the Crown Prince in front of the court officials?"
"this……"
Li Shimin hesitated upon hearing this, but before he could think of a way to defend himself, Zhang Anan spoke up again.
"Your Majesty, you didn't expect this, did you?"
Zhang Anan gave a bitter smile as he said this.
“This servant remembers it for you. The last time you praised the Crown Prince in front of the court officials was at the funeral of Empress Wende in the tenth year of Zhenguan. You praised the Crown Prince for his filial piety towards the Empress!”
Upon hearing this, Li Shimin asked incredulously.
"Has it been that long?"
"certainly!"
"Does Your Majesty know how many times you praised the Prince of Wei in front of your court officials after the tenth year of the Zhenguan era?"
Upon hearing this, Li Shimin shook his head again. Although he did not know the exact number of times, he knew it must have been many.
Because he genuinely favored the King of Wei, he would often praise him in front of his senior officials.
“This servant has remembered it for you. You praised the Prince of Wei 106 times in front of everyone, and 284 times in private conversations with your ministers!”
"ah?"
Li Shimin was stunned when he heard this number. Had he really praised the Prince of Wei so much?
"Your Majesty, while you are suppressing Chengqian, you are also praising the Prince of Wei with all your might. Please imagine that if you were Chengqian, sitting in Chengqian's position, how would you feel?"
"I won't think about anything, I will take immediate action!"
"That's right!"
"Chengqian did the same thing, but he wasn't as wise and powerful as His Majesty, and ultimately failed..."
After saying this, Zhang Anan sighed softly.
"Your Majesty, you have no idea how much Chengqian respects you and how much he fears you. Even when he eventually turned to rebellion, he never intended to harm you!"
"Actually, he was mostly protecting himself; he was afraid of ending up like the Crown Prince Yin."
Upon hearing this, Li Shimin lowered his head sadly, and after a long while, he spoke softly.
"I know!"
"Actually, I knew everything, but I pretended not to know at the time..."
"It was I who harmed Chengqian, and it was I who harmed my eldest grandson..."
"Fortunately, Heaven has sent my eldest grandson back to my side. Otherwise, even if I were to die, I would have no face to meet Empress Wende or the ancestors of the Li Tang dynasty!"
Seeing that Li Shimin had realized his problem, Zhang Anan stopped rubbing salt into his wounds.
"This old servant has been arrogant and reckless; I beg Your Majesty to punish me!"
Li Shimin smiled bitterly upon hearing this, then cursed in an annoyed tone.
"I should punish you, you old dog!"
"You remember it so clearly, why didn't you remind me back then to treat Chengqian better..."
Zhang Anan rolled his eyes inwardly upon hearing this. He had watched Li Chengqian grow up, so how could he bear to see the child suffer?
He had given subtle hints countless times, but His Majesty simply wouldn't listen. He even appointed him as a gatekeeper general and expelled him from the inner court!
When Li Shimin saw that Zhang Anan remained silent, he realized that the problem lay with him.
"I was wrong, and I apologize to you!"
"I wouldn't dare!"
"What is my status? How dare I trouble Your Majesty to apologize?"
"As long as Your Majesty treats your eldest grandson well, this old servant will be content!"
Upon hearing this, Li Shimin immediately became displeased and growled in a low voice with a stern face.
"That is my eldest grandson, my only legitimate son and grandson. How could I mistreat him?"
Zhang Anan heard this but didn't say a word. He calmly got up from the ground, dusted himself off, and went back to his room to sleep.
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