Thief Emperor

Chapter 1063 The Great Merit of the King of Yue
In February, after Crown Prince Li Yuan performed the ancestral temple sacrifice on behalf of the Emperor, he left Luoyang with the Crown Prince's entourage, accompanied by General Yang Xi, the Marquis of Zhongyong and a member of the Imperial Guard.

Because the Crown Prince was traveling east and had political affairs to attend to, the Emperor ordered the officials of the Eastern Palace, as well as the Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, to accompany him.

Other officials accompanied him, likely focusing on governance. The second-in-command of the Censorate accompanied him, carrying the emperor's edict. Upon arriving in the region, they could deal with local officials on the spot, directly arresting and punishing them without needing to consult Luoyang.

In other words, the Emperor not only gave His Highness the position during this trip to the east, but also granted him considerable power.

On the day the Crown Prince set off, His Majesty the Emperor personally saw him off, accompanying him all the way to the gates of the Imperial City. His Majesty the Emperor exchanged a few words with the Crown Prince, and then summoned the Crown Princess Qian, who was traveling with him, and instructed her: "The Crown Prince has a gentle nature. You will accompany him on this journey. If anything happens, you can help him as you see fit."

Throughout history, regardless of the dynasty, any emperor who achieved great success and brought peace to the country almost always had a crown prince who was somewhat weak.

This is determined by the natural relationship between father and son. If the father is strong, the heir can only be weaker. Otherwise, if the two dragons fight, the crown prince will immediately cease to exist.

However, Crown Princess Qian Suzhen grew up in Xichuan with her father since childhood and came from a military family. Li Yun chose this daughter-in-law because he wanted the couple to complement each other and live a good life together.

The Crown Princess bowed deeply and said, "Your subject obeys."

The emperor looked at her and said with a smile, "You two have only been married a short time, and you shouldn't be going on such a long trip. If you get pregnant in Jiangdong, it will cause trouble later. If my son doesn't want to go, the crown prince can go alone."

The Crown Princess was initially in a state of indecision about going on this trip. It was Empress Xue who personally went to the Eastern Palace to meet the couple and inquire about the Crown Princess's opinion. Because the Crown Princess insisted on going, the Emperor allowed the couple to travel together.

This is not surprising.

The Crown Prince is still young. Once he arrives in the Jiangnan region, the local officials and gentry will undoubtedly try to curry favor with this future heir apparent and will send countless beauties to him.

Of course, the Qian family wanted to follow along and keep some control over the family.

She bowed to the emperor and said, "If I become pregnant in Jiangnan, I will give birth to the imperial grandson in Jiangnan before returning to Luoyang."

At this point, she bowed deeply to Li Yun and Empress Xue and said, "Father and Mother, I am leaving this time. Please take good care of my children at home."

In this era, the legal mother was more important than the birth mother. Emperor Li's eldest grandson was, legally speaking, Qian's child, and was even closer to her than to his birth mother.

Hearing this, Empress Xue was very pleased. She stepped forward, took her daughter-in-law's hand, and said with emotion, "Good child, good child."

"Don't worry, your mother and father will take good care of the Crown Prince's Palace."

The Crown Princess bowed deeply to the Emperor and Empress before turning around and getting into the carriage with the Crown Prince.

As the carriage drove away, Empress Xue turned to look at the emperor and remarked, "The daughter raised by the Qian family is truly remarkable."

Emperor Li nodded, quite pleased with his daughter-in-law.

"This child is quite good. In a few years, it would be good to have her help you manage the harem."

Empress Xue stared at her son's departing figure, lost in thought for a long while, before finally coming to her senses. She looked at Li Yun and asked, "Where is Erlang now? How is he?"

Li Yun was taken aback upon hearing this and looked down at Empress Xue.

Empress Xue then spoke up, "My sister asked me to inquire. She didn't dare to ask you herself, but she was worried about Erlang. I heard that you sent Erlang to Xichuan not to marry the Tibetan princess, but to fight against the Tibetans, is that right?"

The younger sister she mentioned was none other than Consort Liu, the birth mother of the King of Yue.

Emperor Li forced a smile: "Madam, who told you all this?"

Empress Xue gritted her teeth slightly: "Although you don't tell me about things in the court, I'm not deaf or blind. I can hear some rumors about them."

Emperor Li tugged at her sleeve and said, "Erlang is alright."

"Don't worry, would I harm my own son?"

Emperor Li said quietly, "I'll talk to Su Mei about this later."

After saying this, His Majesty the Emperor turned around and looked at the palace servants nearby, his expression calm: "Let's return to the palace."

After returning to the palace, Li Yun handled government affairs in the Ganlu Hall. It wasn't until the afternoon that he set off for the inner palace and arrived at the Yongshou Palace where Consort Liu resided.

After he entered Yongshou Palace, he had only taken a few steps when Consort Liu and the Third Princess came out to greet him. They bowed to the Emperor, and His Majesty stepped forward, picked up the seven or eight-year-old Third Princess, and said with a smile, "Afu seems to have grown taller again."

The third princess hugged her father's neck and said with a smile, "I also feel like I've grown taller, but my mother always says I'm a picky eater and refuse to eat."

Emperor Li looked at her and frowned, saying, "My dear girl, you're at the age where you're growing. You can't be picky about food. If you continue to be picky, your father will punish you by making you write big characters."

Consort Liu stepped forward and helped her daughter tidy her hair. Looking at the Third Princess, she sighed and said, "Your Majesty does not know that this child may not eat a single bowl of rice a day. Even when I cook for her myself, she is unwilling to eat much."

Emperor Li carried his daughter into the palace, scolded her a few times, which brought tears to little Afu's eyes. Unable to bear it, he held her in his arms and comforted her for a while. After playing with his daughter for a while, His Majesty summoned a palace maid and took the Third Princess out to play. After the maid left, only the couple remained in the room. Emperor Li smiled at Consort Liu and said, "Second Prince resembles me, and Afu probably resembles you, Su Mei. When we first met, Su Mei, you were already very thin, and even now, you haven't gained much weight."

Among all the women in the harem, Consort Liu was clearly the thinnest. Even after giving birth to a son and a daughter, she was still rather thin.

By the standards of that other world, this would be considered an excellent figure, but in this world, it appears somewhat thin.

Upon hearing this, Consort Liu did not respond. Instead, she lowered her head to pour tea for Li Yun, then sat down beside him, looked at him, and sighed, "Your Majesty, Second Prince..."

"I came here today to talk to you about Erlang."

Emperor Li lowered his head, took a sip of tea, then took out a document from his sleeve and sighed, "We've been friends for over twenty years, and I'm not trying to hide anything from you."

“This is a letter he sent home from Jiannan Road a couple of days ago. In the letter, he repeatedly begged me not to tell you about his situation, so as not to worry you.”

Emperor Li smiled wryly and said, "You know that child's temperament. I didn't tell you this after I read this letter."

He looked at Consort Liu and said with a smile, "In his heart, you, as his mother, probably hold a much higher place than I, as his father."

Since the establishment of the new dynasty, the harem system has been established, which means that no matter what rank one is, as long as one gives birth to imperial offspring, one is entitled to raise them oneself. All princes and princesses are raised by their own mothers unless their biological mothers are in very poor health.

King Yue grew up in Yongshou Palace from a young age, accompanied by Empress Liu day and night. The bond between mother and son was indeed stronger than that between father and son.

Empress Liu glanced at the letter, wanting to read it but also feeling a little scared. She tugged at Li Yun's sleeve, her voice trembling slightly, "Your Majesty, is Erlang alright?"

"He was injured."

Emperor Li said quietly, "About half a month ago, he and the Chengdu army crossed mountains and ridges and entered Jinchuan Prefecture, where they fought fiercely with the Tibetans for several days."

His Majesty the Emperor glanced at Consort Liu's expression and continued, "The terrain of Jinchuan Prefecture is too treacherous. In the heat of battle, it's unlikely that his guards could have protected him completely. The child was shot in the back with an arrow and also stabbed in the arm."

Seeing that Consort Liu's expression changed, Li Yun quickly added, "However, he has now retreated to the rear to recuperate, and at least his life is not in danger."

Empress Liu then took the letter from Li Yun's hand, unfolded it, and after reading it, she couldn't help but redden her eyes and kept wiping away her tears.

Emperor Li wiped away her tears with his sleeve and explained, "Sister Su, it wasn't that I forced him to go to war, it was his own choice, so you can't blame me."

Empress Liu looked up at Li Yun, tears streaming down her face: "He is..."

She only managed to say three words before abruptly stopping. She couldn't bring herself to say the four words, "So much like you," and could only weep uncontrollably.

There's no way around it. Being in the royal family is different from being in an ordinary family. In an ordinary family, it's a good thing if the son resembles the father, and people can say whatever they want.

However, for someone in the royal family to say that a prince other than the crown prince resembles the emperor, one must be cautious.

Even if others can speak, the mother and son involved cannot, especially not to the emperor. Otherwise, what is said without intention may be taken seriously by the listener and could very well become a signal for a struggle for the throne.

Emperor Li patted her shoulder and said softly, "Erlang's surprise attack has allowed our army to gain a foothold in Jinchuan Prefecture. No matter how long it takes to completely conquer it, at least we have made a start."

"It will be much easier from here on out."

Empress Liu wiped away her tears and choked out, "Your Majesty, please write a letter to the generals of Xichuan and ask them to take care of Erlang on the battlefield."

Emperor Li nodded silently, then looked at Consort Liu and asked, "This time, Erlang has made a real contribution, and the court will surely reward him in the future. What does Su Mei want the court to reward him with?"

"Should we send him back to the Central Plains to take up his fief, or should we... send him to Chengdu?"

Empress Liu shook her head: "Your Majesty, I do not understand these things."

Upon hearing this, Li Yun rubbed his temples and sighed, "I am also very hesitant now. If we leave him in Xichuan, it will be too far from Luoyang."

Empress Liu looked down at her son's letter again, without replying.

Emperor Li thought for a moment, then changed the subject, saying, "Zhao Cheng has returned to Luoyang. His family..."

"If I remember correctly, I have two daughters."

Upon hearing Zhao Cheng's name, Consort Liu's expression changed slightly, but she immediately lowered her eyes and said nothing.

Li Yun glanced at her and murmured something to himself.

"It seems that Yao Zhong also has a daughter."

(End of this chapter)