Thief Emperor

Chapter 1156 Luoyang Poetry Crown
In late August, the imperial entourage returned to Jingzhao Prefecture.

Prince Li Zheng, the Prefect of Jingzhao, led a group of civil and military officials, as well as imperial relatives, dozens of miles outside the city to welcome the emperor's carriage, accompanied by His Highness the Crown Prince.

The entire welcoming process was quite lengthy. Including the welcoming party and the journey back to Luoyang, it took three days for His Majesty the Emperor to finally return to the familiar palace.

By this time, winter had arrived.

After returning to the palace, His Majesty the Emperor rested for a day or two before beginning to meet with some of the officials he was required to see, including Xu Ang and Yao Zhong.

On the third day, His Majesty the Emperor summoned the Crown Prince to the Ganlu Hall alone.

Inside the Ganlu Hall, His Highness the Crown Prince stepped forward and poured tea for Li Yun before giving a bitter smile: "Father has finally returned. This past year has been incredibly difficult for me, I've been struggling to make ends meet."

He pointed to his sideburns.

"Look, my son's hair is turning gray."

The emperor looked at him and said speechlessly, "You're only twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, don't talk nonsense."

After a pause, the emperor continued, "Yesterday, I met with several prime ministers and asked them all the necessary questions. You have done a good job this past year."

The emperor smiled and said, "From now on, you can continue doing this."

The Crown Prince seemed to have anticipated the Emperor's words. He took two steps back, straightened his clothes, and then knelt on both knees, bowing respectfully and saying, "Your subject begs Your Majesty to rescind your decree."

He lowered his head and said, "For the past year, I have been living in constant fear, afraid that I might have made a mistake that would harm the court and my father."

"For a whole year, the child slept less than three hours a day."

He looked up at Li Yun, then down again, almost choking back tears: "You...you absolutely cannot just leave this mess to your son like this..."

What he said wasn't a lie.

Being an emperor is certainly a great thing, but it's not so good to only be responsible for the emperor's affairs without having the emperor's identity.

The crown prince has a lot to do every day. If he were the emperor, he could delegate tasks to his ministers if he got tired or lazy. But he has a "big boss" above him, so he has to work diligently every day and worry about making mistakes here and there.

A few months ago, someone reported a cheating scandal in the imperial examinations, which also implicated the Crown Prince's palace, and it frightened him quite a bit.

Simply put, as long as the emperor is alive, being the acting emperor is not a good job, because there are still superiors above him, and he cannot enjoy the benefits of being the emperor.

It's not nearly as carefree as when I was the crown prince.

He even said that he had started to grow gray hair, and that wasn't a lie; he really did have a few strands of gray hair.

The emperor looked at him and frowned: "If you're too busy, hand it over to the Council of State Affairs. You can take charge of that."

"These are all real powers; even the selection and promotion of civil officials are all entrusted to you. Is that a bad thing?"

Li Yuan kowtowed, tears streaming down his face, and said, "After Mother returned, I cried to her about it, but she did not agree to let you leave this mess to me like this."

"These matters are really weighing on my shoulders alone. If I slack off, I will be letting down the court and my father. But if I continue to serve like this..."

He choked up and said, "In a few years, you may not be able to see your son again."

"A bunch of nonsense."

The emperor stood up, looked at his son, and felt somewhat annoyed.

If the power is relinquished and even the crown prince doesn't want it, does he really have to keep the throne?
The thought flashed through his mind.

However, he quickly suppressed it with his rationality.

The Crown Prince... probably wouldn't have such a thought.

He rubbed his temples, remained silent for a moment, and then raised his hand: "Get up, get up."

"Stop being so girly, what's there to cry about?"

The Crown Prince took a deep breath and said, "Father, I cannot continue to govern under any circumstances."

As he spoke, he looked up at his father and added, "Furthermore, I saw your punishment of Erlang. I believe that although Erlang..."

"All right."

The emperor waved his hand, interrupting him, and said decisively, "There's nothing to say about this. If it weren't for my own son, I wouldn't have fallen so easily."

"Confining him for three years is also to temper his temperament. With his personality, if we let him run wild again..."

The emperor grunted, "I'm afraid that in the future, I will have to kill my own son."

The crown prince quickly lowered his head, not daring to speak. "I was just about to tell you this."

The emperor spoke up, saying, "I plan to revise the imperial clan system. In the next couple of days, take some time to summon your uncle, the Prince of Jin, and the Prince of Chu. The four of us will discuss this first. Once it's finalized, we'll gather all the adult members of the imperial clan in Luoyang and read it aloud together."

He looked at the Crown Prince and said solemnly, "You must pay special attention to this matter. You and your descendants must pass this system down from generation to generation."

The crown prince hesitated for a moment, then lowered his head and replied, "Yes."

"My child obeys."

The emperor grunted and sighed, "These next few days, come to the Ganlu Hall every morning so we, father and son, can exchange state affairs."

“From now on, you will still be in the Council of State Affairs, and you will still be in charge of most matters. If you dare not make a decision or are unwilling to make a decision, then the Council of State Affairs will forward it to your father.”

The crown prince was overjoyed, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed, saying, "Your subject obeys! Your subject obeys!"

Having said that, he got up and quickly left the Ganlu Hall.

His Majesty the Emperor sat there for a long time before finally letting out a self-deprecating laugh.

"Perhaps I'm just overthinking things."

He shook his head and said, "Gu Chang, go and call Prince Jin over."

Eunuch Gu bowed his head and respectfully replied, "Yes."

About half an hour later, Prince Jin, dressed in a purple robe, entered the Ganlu Hall. After entering, he bowed to Li Yun and, seeing that no one was around, smiled and said, "What does Second Brother want with me?"

Li Yun gestured for him to sit down, then asked with a smile, "Has the proprietress of Xiangfulou come looking for you yet?"

This was just a joke, and Li Zheng knew that Li Yun was joking with him, so he smiled and said, "Since you care so much, Second Brother, if she comes, I will definitely bring her into the palace for you to see."

His Majesty the Emperor said in a daze, "You little rascal, it seems you've finally come to your senses."

The two brothers chatted for a while before the emperor brought up the matter of the crown prince. After listening, Prince Jin first lowered his head and took a sip of tea, then said with a smile, "Being in my second brother's position is not only hard work, but I also have to have my studies checked by him every day. If anything happens in the court, it will most likely be blamed on the crown prince."

"This is certainly not a good job."

Prince Jin looked at Li Yun and said solemnly, "Second brother, you didn't see it, but when I returned to Luoyang, His Highness the Crown Prince looked much more haggard and almost unrecognizable."

The emperor glanced at Li Zheng, then continued, "Do you know what happened with this year's imperial examination?"

“I’ve heard some of it.”

"The reason is that this year, several unsuccessful scholars gathered together. Among them, one of them was known as the 'Poetry King of Luoyang,' and was quite famous."

"The rest of the people are also quite famous."

"These people all failed the exam, so they were resentful and started making trouble. They heard rumors from somewhere that the Crown Prince was promoting his cronies, so they reported it to Xu Ziwang."

At this point, Prince Jin looked at Li Yun and said helplessly, "The Three Judicial Offices investigated and found that someone had committed fraud, but it did not involve the Crown Prince."

The emperor asked curiously, "Poetry Crown? Who bestowed this title upon him?"

Prince Jin said with a smile, "Second Brother, have you forgotten? The Tang Dynasty Official Gazette that Sanlang ran."

"This stuff is all the rage in Luoyang right now."

“Every issue of the official gazette will publish poems and articles. This scholar surnamed Luo has been submitting articles since he came to Luoyang last year. His articles have been published in the official gazette more than ten times. His poems and articles are excellent and he has become famous in Luoyang. Therefore, he is called the “Poetry King of Luoyang” by busybodies.”

The emperor said "Oh" and nodded slightly.

One of the signs of a prosperous era is the flourishing of culture. Now, sixteen or seventeen years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the once desolate land of the Zhou Dynasty has finally begun to bloom with the splendid flowers of culture.

He asked a few more questions, then said, "I want to re-establish the feudal system. If the Crown Prince seeks you out in the next few days, you should discuss it with him and the Prince of Chu."

"Remember, punishment must be severe."

Prince Jin nodded and sighed, "I've heard about it."

"Erlang, he..."

"You don't need to worry about his affairs."

The emperor looked out of the hall: "Alright, you may go about your business. There are some things..."

"I need to think about this carefully by myself."

(End of this chapter)