Thief Emperor

Chapter 1009: Dragon in the Snow
On the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, a heavy snow fell in Jinling. The snow covered the entire Jinling Imperial Palace in a white quilt. It was not until the afternoon that a pedestrian path was shoveled out in the palace.

The second prince Li Zheng and the eldest princess Li Shu walked on the snowy path of the imperial city and came to the warm room in the harem, where they met the emperor and Concubine Lu, who was pouring tea for the emperor in the warm room.

The brother and sister bowed at the same time and saluted the couple.

The emperor was wearing casual clothes at the moment, sitting on a couch, chatting with Concubine Lu. When he saw his children coming in, he smiled at them and said, "Today is New Year's Eve, so don't go anywhere else. Let's get together as a family and have dinner together in the evening, which will be the New Year's Day."

"You two siblings, stay in the palace."

The second prince also sat down and said to his father, "Dad, the servants of the Jinling Palace are too lazy. My sister and I walked all the way here and saw that the entire palace was covered with snow and it was not cleaned."

Emperor Li shook his head slightly: "There aren't many palace servants in Jinling Palace. We have already cleaned up the snow this morning. There is such a heavy snow."

"Then don't blame them."

The eldest princess looked at her father, then at her mother, blinked her eyes, and said, "Father, Silang is alone in Jinling..."

Concubine Lu immediately frowned and said, "Your father has already said that this is our family dinner, so please stop making trouble."

"If you continue to act recklessly, I will never bring you out again."

Princess Lu's attitude towards her eldest daughter is different from Li Yun's. Although she also dotes on her daughter, she is stricter than Li Yun.

On the contrary, Princess Lu seemed to be more lenient towards her other son, the fifth prince.

After all, the values ​​are different. This era has always emphasized that a mother's status is determined by her son. Concubine Lu's ideas are naturally similar to those of this world. However, under the influence of Emperor Li, she has actually treated her eldest daughter much better than other women of her time.

The eldest princess Li Shu was far more afraid of her mother than her father. After being glared at by Concubine Lu, she quickly lowered her head and dared not speak.

The Emperor was silent for a while, then shook his head and said, "Forget about it today. Tomorrow, on the first day of the lunar year, Erlang, go find him and bring him to the palace. We can have a meal together."

Li Zheng responded first, then looked at his father and said with a smile: "Dad, I heard that you are going to give us another brother or sister."

Li Yun was not too arrogant in front of people close to him. Hearing this, he looked at Concubine Lu and said with a smile, "Don't ask too much about your Excellency's affairs."

Princess Lu smiled and said, "Erlang is not that young. There are many young men in the countryside who have married and had children at his age."

As she spoke, she looked at Li Zheng and asked, "Does Erlang have a favorite family? If so, when spring comes and we return to Luoyang, I will go and mediate for you."

Logically speaking, all of the Emperor's concubines are Li Zheng's "mother concubine", but Concubine Liu and Concubine Lu are different. They followed Li Yun at the earliest, and when he was a child, Concubine Lu often took Li Zheng with her, and indeed called her aunt.

Before the Second Prince could speak, His Majesty the Emperor stroked his chin and said, "Indeed, he should be given the gift and arranged a marriage."

If the prince wants to go out to be a fief, the prerequisite is of course to get married first. After the new year, when Li Yun returns to Luoyang, he must take Li Zheng with him and not allow him to go back to the front line. After returning to Luoyang, before he is sent out to be a fief, a marriage must be arranged for him.

Li Zheng scratched his head, feeling a little embarrassed: "Aunt, I haven't thought about this yet, but in the past few months, I have been hanging out with the fourth son of the Su family. He said he wanted to introduce his sisters to me, and that he would take me to his house to meet them when I return to Luoyang."

Emperor Li lowered his head to drink tea, then glanced at his son and shook his head slightly: "No."

His Royal Highness the King of Yue blinked and asked, "Dad, why not?"

"You are about to promise my sister to him. The Su family married a princess from our Li family, so they should also return a daughter-in-law to us."

The emperor looked at his second son, shook his head slightly and said, "I don't know whether you just can't figure it out or you're pretending not to understand."

"Su Silang has no say in Su family matters. His father has the final say. His father will never promise his daughter to you."

This time, the King of Yue went on an expedition and made many contributions. Although he did not lead the troops, his achievements were already dazzling enough.

Who knows if there will be anyone in the court who will say, Your Majesty, the King of Yue?

Moreover, the current emperor is Li Er, and the King of Yue is also Li Er. This fact alone may lead many people to make far-fetched claims.

If it were just these, then these people would shut up after the King of Yue got married and became a fiefdom. But if he married Su Sheng's daughter, then there would be a lot of fun.

I'm afraid that the officials of the Eastern Palace will focus their attention on targeting the King of Yue from now on.

As Li Yun said, even if they and his son had no objection to this matter, given Su Sheng's personality, he would never agree to it.

Li Zheng looked at his father and smiled, "Since Dad doesn't agree, forget it. Uncle Jin Wang's eldest daughter is also pretty. Otherwise, Dad, can you go and tell me about it?"

Li Yun and Prince of Jin Li Zheng are not cousins, but distant cousins ​​from the same great-grandfather. Theoretically, their descendants can marry without too many problems.

The emperor frowned and said, "His daughter is only thirteen or fourteen years old? What are you thinking about, kid?"

"And people with the same surname cannot marry." His Majesty the Emperor knocked on the table and said, "Your uncle, the Prince of Jin, will not want you as his son-in-law either."

"never mind."

The emperor frowned and said, "We will discuss this matter after we return to Luoyang. When the time comes, let your mother go to seek the way of Taoism. After your royal brother's wedding, we will start to arrange your marriage."

The Crown Princess has now been confirmed, but the formal wedding has not yet taken place. The wedding and enthronement ceremony can only be completed after Li Yun returns to Luoyang this time.

Only then did Li Zheng nod obediently and stop talking.

Princess Lujiang looked at her brother and said with a smile, "You are a snob. You picked fathers-in-law who are all powerful. You even have your eyes on the daughter of Uncle Jin."

The King of Yue cried out, "It wasn't me who first brought up this matter."

The Emperor shook his head slightly, he stood up, looked at his son, and said, "Since you like martial arts, there may be a job for you in the future. I have nothing to do today, come on, let your father teach you well."

Prince Yue looked at the sky outside and shrank his neck: "Dad, it's snowing."

"Does practicing martial arts care whether it snows or not?"

The Emperor grabbed the back of the King of Yue's collar and almost carried his son, who weighed 160 to 170 kilograms, out. As he walked, he said, "Gu Chang, get two guns."

Eunuch Gu responded immediately and ran off to get his gun.

Not long after, the father and son came to the open space in the back garden of the Jinling Imperial City. At this time, the open space was covered with a layer of winter snow. Eunuch Gu asked someone to bring two long spears and present them to His Majesty the Emperor. The emperor weighed them and frowned slightly.

Some of them were too light, much lighter than his own.

His gun weighed nearly ten or twenty pounds, which was difficult for most people to wield. A normal practical gun usually weighed less than five pounds.

In the heavy snow, the emperor threw the spear to the King of Yue, his eyes calm: "Come."

The King of Yue took the spear and took a deep breath: "Dad, let's change it to one without a spear head."

The emperor smiled and said, "What the hell is that?"

"Your father will teach you a lesson today."

Li Zheng had been learning how to use spears and sticks since he was young. He picked up his spear, gritted his teeth and accepted the offer. He took up his stance, and swept his spear across, aiming directly at the emperor.

The emperor held the gun in one hand and chopped down in a simple and unpretentious manner. Li Zheng quickly blocked it with both hands holding the gun. When the weapons of both sides touched, the King of Yue felt a huge vibration in his palm.

At this time, Emperor Li had switched from one hand to two hands, holding the gun in both hands, and chopped again. Li Zheng gritted his teeth and blocked it again, but this time he was unable to block it. The gun in his hand was knocked out of his hand, and blood even seeped out of his right hand.

His heart was pounding. He ignored the pain in his hand, looked up at his father and shouted, "It's not fair, Dad. You're too strong!"

His Majesty the Emperor ignored him and used his spear skills in a wide range in the heavy snow. Wherever the spear went, even the falling snowflakes were shattered by the spear, and snow foam splashed everywhere.

The spear in the emperor's hand was like a swimming dragon, and it was a powerful dragon at that. It was roaring loudly and opening its mouth to bite the flying snow into pieces!

After finishing all this spear firing, sweat appeared on Emperor Li's forehead. He let out a low roar, and the spear in his hand flew out at lightning speed, with the tip of the spear nailed straight into the ground, but the handle could no longer support the spear and had already cracked.

His Royal Highness the King of Yue trotted over and looked at the obviously cracked gun handle, stunned and speechless for a long time.

His Majesty the Emperor stood there, breathing slightly, sweat already rising from his head.

Not far away, Concubine Lu and Princess Lujiang, each holding an umbrella, looked at the tall Emperor in the snow.

Concubine Lu watched for a long time, until the Emperor had finished using all his spear skills. She then turned to look at her daughter and smiled softly, "How's it going? Amazing, isn't it?"

It was also the first time that Princess Lujiang saw her father display his great power. Upon hearing this, she nodded blankly.

Princess Lu looked at Emperor Li again, her eyes full of admiration, as if she had returned to her youth, to the first time she met Li Yun.

"The husband chosen by my mother is better than the one you choose."

She looked back at her daughter and smiled.

“It’s much more powerful.”

(End of this chapter)