Thief Emperor

Chapter 1127 Each Has Their Own Future
After the grand court assembly ended, the Khitan Khan was led away from the Taiji Hall by officials from the Ministry of Rites. However, he did not leave immediately but strode towards the Crown Prince.

At this moment, His Majesty the Emperor had already left, but the Crown Prince had not yet left. When the officials from the Ministry of Rites tried to stop him, he had already taken a few steps to the Crown Prince and bowed, saying, "Your Highness."

The Crown Prince was speaking with the newly appointed Minister of Personnel, Zhuo, discussing the selection of several officials. Upon hearing this, he turned to look at the Khitan Khan and said to Zhuo Guangrui with a smile, "Old Minister, please wait a moment."

Zhuo Guangrui bowed slightly: "Your Highness, please go ahead with your business."

The crown prince led Yelü Yi to a secluded spot before speaking to him, "What instructions does the Khan have?"

Yelü Yi bowed slightly and said, "Your Highness, this time when I came to Luoyang, in addition to preparing gifts for His Majesty, I also prepared a gift for Your Highness, which included twenty virgins that I had carefully selected."

Upon hearing this, His Highness the Crown Prince's eyes flickered, and then he smiled and said, "The Khan is too kind."

"It should."

The Khitan Khan lowered his head and said, "I only hope that my tribe can serve the Tang Dynasty for a long time in the future."

He paused, then lowered his head and said through gritted teeth, "There is one more thing I wish to tell Your Highness."

Crown Prince Li Yuan raised an eyebrow: "What is it?"

“Yelü Hong betrayed his clan and will inevitably betray the Tang Dynasty in the future. Such a beast should not live in this world.”

"Your Highness and Your Majesty, please see this person's true colors!"

Yelü Yi gritted his teeth: "It would be best if he were handed over to an outsider for disposal!"

"Yelü Hong..."

The Crown Prince thought for a moment before remembering something. He said, "When Yelü Hong came to the capital, I had not yet begun to manage affairs, and I am not aware of the details."

He looked at Yelü Yi and asked, "Isn't Yelü Hong the Khan's younger brother?"

“I have no brothers like this.”

Yelü Yi clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, saying, "Your humble servant is already old and frail. I have no other ambitions in this life but to grind this traitor to dust and tear him to pieces!"

The crown prince's gaze shifted, and he said with a smile, "Yelü Hong is now the deputy general of our Great Tang Dynasty and an important minister guarding a region. Although he has some personal grudges with the Khan, the Khan has now surrendered to our dynasty. Why not turn hostility into friendship?"

Yelü Yi looked up at Li Yuan, his gaze filled with complex emotions.

Is the Li Tang dynasty truly destined by Heaven?

Not only did Li Yun appear out of nowhere, but now this Crown Prince of Li Tang…

They have quite the discerning eye!

Upon hearing this, Yelü Yi sighed deeply, remained silent, bowed to the Crown Prince, and turned to leave the Taiji Hall.

The Crown Prince glanced at his retreating figure but paid it no mind. Instead, he went to find Minister Zhuo and discussed the filling of several important vacancies. After they had finished talking, he smiled at Zhuo Guangrui and said, "If Minister Zhuo has no objections, this list can be submitted to Father Emperor in a few days for his decision."

Zhuo Guangrui glanced at the Crown Prince and said with a smile, "This old minister has no objection. We will submit the list accordingly."

The Crown Prince spoke a few more words with Zhuo Guangrui before exchanging farewells.

After leaving the Ganlu Palace, he wandered around the imperial city and eventually arrived at the Ministry of Revenue.

As soon as they arrived at our door, Minister Xue of the Ministry of Revenue came out to greet His Highness the Crown Prince. The two walked to the main hall of the Ministry of Revenue and sat down. The Crown Prince looked at Minister Xue and asked, "Uncle, how smoothly has the takeover of the Ministry of Revenue gone?"

Xue Shou poured tea for the Crown Prince and said with a smile, "I used to work here. Although things are a bit different now than they were a few years ago, Minister Zhuo was willing to help, so things went relatively smoothly."

The Crown Prince grunted and said, "This year, Father Emperor will exempt the entire nation from taxes and levies. This is a very important matter. Although the Ministry of Revenue does not have to manage the accounts, its responsibilities are the heaviest. Uncle, please work hard."

Minister Xue nodded and said, "Although we are no longer collecting taxes and grain, His Majesty wants to establish another maritime tax office in the south of Jiangdong Road, which is quite a lot of work."

The Crown Prince smiled and said, "If the national treasury runs out of funds before next year's summer harvest, Uncle can come to me. I'll put in a good word for you, and maybe we can get through this."

Minister Xue bowed slightly: "Thank you, Your Highness."

The Crown Prince poured tea for Minister Xue and asked, "How has Grandmother been feeling lately?"

Upon hearing this, Minister Xue sighed: "The old lady used to be in very good health, but after my father passed away, she often hid away and cried alone. In recent years, she has become much worse than before."

Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince frowned and said in a low voice, "I will try to visit my maternal grandmother in the next few days."

Minister Xue nodded: "Your Highness, please let me know in advance. I will be waiting for you at home."

"Alright." The Crown Prince said with a smile, "I'll take Cai Mei with me then."

The two chatted about everyday matters for a while before His Highness the Crown Prince set off. After leaving the Ministry of Revenue, he did not go to the Secretariat but returned to the Eastern Palace to rest. After resting for a while, he summoned his personal eunuch and asked, "What has the Third Prince been doing since returning to Luoyang?"

The eunuch, who was in his thirties and had been with the Crown Prince since childhood, lowered his head upon hearing this and said, "After His Highness Prince Zheng returned to Luoyang, he met His Majesty, the Fourth Prince, and the Fifth Prince. After that, he often went to Liulichang. I haven't heard of anything else."

"Liulichang..."

The Crown Prince tapped the table and said quietly, "Send someone to Prince Zheng's residence to deliver a message to him, saying that I will invite him to a banquet sometime when he has some free time."

The eunuch nodded immediately.

"Yes, slave, I'll do it now."

…………

Inside the Ganlu Hall, His Majesty the Emperor took off his boots and reclined on the soft couch. He looked at Liu Bo, the Duke of Ying, who was sitting not far from him, and said with a smile, "Yelü Yi probably won't live for many more years, which is why he came to Luoyang to bow his head."

"Have your two sons arrived at the Wugu tribe yet?"

Li Yun had mentioned this matter to Liu Bo when the leader of the Wugu tribe passed away last time, but at that time, the imperial court was not yet ready to confer the title of Khitan Khan, so there was no rush to proceed.

Now, everything is finally ready.

Liu Bo lowered his head and took a sip of tea before saying, "The older one has already gone to the Wugu tribe with his mother. I sent someone to follow them and send a message back saying that the people of the Wugu tribe are quite sensible and did not make things difficult for the mother and son."

Li Yun stood up and said with a smile, "The imperial envoy appointed by the court to the Khitan Khan is expected to depart this month or next month. You should go with him, firstly to see your son, and secondly to oversee the situation outside the Great Wall."

"Remember to maintain good relations between you and your son."

Emperor Li joked, "Don't wait until he becomes the Khitan Khan and forgets you, his Han Chinese father."

Liu Bo shook his head and chuckled, "That shouldn't be the case."

"As long as our Great Tang Dynasty remains strong, he will most likely never forget his father, who is now a Duke."

Li Yun rolled her eyes at him: "How can you describe the bond between father and son in such a mercenary way?"

Liu Bo smiled and said, "Maybe it's because I'm a bit mercenary."

Emperor Li and Liu Bo chatted for a while longer. When they got into a good mood, they had some wine and food prepared. The two old brothers clinked glasses, and Emperor Li tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp. He said with a smile, "Old Ninth, you probably don't know. When I first led people to Youyan to support General Xiao, it was the first time I faced the Khitans."

"With the same number of troops, we were defeated by the Khitan light cavalry and couldn't even lift our heads."

"If the main force of the Khitans hadn't been facing the Fanyang army at that time, we would probably have suffered a great loss."

"Back then, I felt a lot of pressure whenever I heard the name Khitan Khan. Who would have thought that twenty years later, he would come to Luoyang on his own initiative and kneel down in front of me to kowtow."

Liu Bo clinked his wine glasses with Li Yun and said with a smile, "After Yelü Hong surrendered in the Battle of Guanzhong and Youyan, he lost more than half of his elite troops and was no longer able to subdue the Khitan tribes."

"Furthermore, the Wugu tribe is in Liaodong and is willing to serve as our bulwark."

Liu Bo laughed and said, "The reason he bowed his head and gave in was because he had no other choice."

"Ah."

Li Yun looked at Liu Bo and said, "The credit for Hebei Province, Youyan, and Liaodong Province is ostensibly due to General Su and Meng Qing, but behind it all is the hard work of you, Lao Jiu, who have been planning for nearly twenty years."

He toasted Liu Bo with a glass of wine and said with a smile, "It's time for your eldest son to start doing something. Bring him to the palace in a few days, and I'll arrange for him to join the Twelve Guards."

"Once Yang Xi recovers, let Yang Xi take care of him for a while."

Upon hearing Yang Xi's name, Liu Bo paused, then asked, "Second Brother, Yang Xi, he..."

"As I get older, my old injuries have recurred."

Li Yun tilted his head back to drink and sighed.

"That arrow that took for me back then was most likely..."

"He came to my door."

(End of this chapter)