Thief Emperor

Chapter 1160 Kindness
The emperor alighted from his sedan chair, glanced at the crowd, and seeing that Su Sheng was not among them, he knew in his heart that his senior brother's condition was indeed not optimistic.

After gesturing for everyone to stand up, he looked at Su Zhan in the crowd and was about to speak when an elderly man, tall but with gray hair and a less straight back, was helped out of the Su family gate.

The emperor spotted him immediately, quickly bypassed the crowd, strode forward to greet him, and helped General Su, who was struggling to walk out.

"Brother, why did you come out? Why did you come out?"

Su Sheng glanced at Li Yun, forcing a smile: "Since His Majesty has arrived in person, of course I must come out to greet him... If I didn't come out, I'm afraid..."

"I'm afraid His Majesty will be even more worried."

The emperor turned to look at everyone and said, "Su Zhan, tell them all to go back to their respective places."

"Su Zhan".

Upon hearing his father-in-law's summons, the Grand Prince Consort Su Zhan hurriedly ran up, bowing his head and saying, "Father."

The emperor said quietly, "Come with me and help your father inside."

General Su waved his hand and shook his head, saying, "Your Majesty, I am not yet at the point where I cannot walk. You go ahead, and we will go inside to talk."

The emperor hesitated for a moment, then looked at Su Zhan. Su Zhan immediately understood and stepped forward to support his father. The father and son lagged half a step behind the emperor. When they reached the entrance of the main hall, the emperor looked up at the sky, then looked back at Su Sheng's face, and sighed: "Let's go to the warm pavilion and light a stove."

Su Zhan quickly responded, then turned and called over his brothers to go to the warm pavilion to light the stove.

After a short while, the emperor and General Su arrived at the Su family's warm pavilion. After the emperor sat down, he looked at Su Sheng and sighed: "It has only been a year since I left Luoyang. Although my brother fell ill a year ago, he is still in good health."

The emperor frowned and said, "How could it be that in just one year..."

During the time Li Yun was away from Luoyang, he would still receive reports on some important matters in the city through the Nine Offices, including General Su's health condition.

This spring, when Li Yun was still in Jinling, the Nine Departments sent a message saying that General Su's health had deteriorated, but they did not say how serious it was. At that time, the emperor also wrote a letter to General Su to inquire about his health.

At that time, Su Sheng replied to the emperor, saying that he was fine.

When we saw Su Sheng again, this General Su not only had a lot more white hair, but the skin on his face had also lost its luster.

General Su looked at Li Yun and sighed slightly: "Your Majesty, that's how people are. When they get to a certain age, they get worse year by year, and the older they get, the worse they become day by day."

"I am already over sixty years old."

He said quietly, "In terms of age, I have lived longer than my father."

In this era, the average lifespan is still too low. When General Su Jing died on the battlefield, he was only fifty-five or fifty-six years old.

That year, Li Yun was only in his early twenties, and Su Sheng was almost thirty-six.

Su Sheng paused for a moment, then continued, "I had many hidden injuries from my early years of fighting. As I got older, they all came back to haunt me. In the thirteenth year of Zhangwu, I suddenly fell ill. At that time, my body was almost completely broken."

He looked at Li Yun and said with a smile, "Speaking of which, I am but a mere warrior who died of illness in my bed, which is far less heroic than my father's."

The emperor did not respond, but silently took a sip of tea. After a long while, he sighed and said, "Brother, don't think like that. You should take good care of yourself. Maybe one day you will get better."

"Tomorrow, I will have the Central Secretariat issue an imperial edict to all regions, offering a reward to renowned physicians from across the land to come to Luoyang to treat my brother."

He paused, then continued, "The official gazette of the Tang Dynasty will also publish the relevant content in the next issue. If anyone can cure my brother's illness, the court will certainly reward them handsomely."

Su Sheng shook his head: "Your Majesty need not do this."

"Even if I could live with this body, it would only be a precarious existence; it would be meaningless."

"My thought is that I will live as long as I can, and if I can't open my eyes anymore, I will go to find my father."

He sighed silently: "It's been twenty-four or twenty-five years since my father passed away. I should go and see him."

Emperor Li tilted his head back and took a sip of tea, his eyes suddenly reddening: "My third uncle has passed away first. If my elder brother were to pass away now, wouldn't that break my heart?"

Su Sheng looked at Li Yun and shook his head slightly: "I know that Erlang values ​​loyalty and righteousness, but all good things must come to an end. Besides, I probably won't die for another day or two."

"When the day comes that I die, I only hope that Erlang will not be sad for me."

General Su said quietly, "In my life, apart from not being able to save my father back then, I have no regrets thanks to Erlang's blessings."

He smiled at Li Yun and said, "Now that things have come to this, I only have two things I want to say to Erlang."

The emperor said quietly, "Brother, just speak."

Su Sheng thought for a moment and said, "The first thing is the matter of the Privy Council." "Over the years, Erlang has taken care of me and has always appointed me as the Privy Councilor, but since the thirteenth year of Zhangwu, I haven't really been in charge of anything."

“Last month, I met with Li Qing and asked him about the situation of the Privy Council. The Privy Council is actually operating quite well now, so it may not necessarily need a Privy Councilor.”

“Erlang, you can…you can consider this position as appropriate. If Erlang feels it is necessary, I think the Privy Council does not necessarily need to have a Privy Councilor in the future. A Deputy Privy Councilor can be in charge.”

He paused, coughed violently, and then continued, "Li... Li Qing is a reliable person. He can become the Privy Councilor in the future. After him, I think the position of Privy Councilor can be left vacant."

The emperor nodded: "I have remembered what you said, brother."

Su Sheng took a few breaths before continuing, "The second thing is that I have a request for Erlang to grant."

There was no third person present, and Su Sheng had reverted to his previous form of address.

Li Yun looked at him and said directly, "As long as it is within my power, I will definitely do as you say, brother."

Su Sheng nodded, paused for a while, and then continued, "Erlang is a man of deep feelings and integrity, and we all admire him very much."

“Thanks to the good deeds my father did back then, our two families have maintained a good relationship over the years, and Erlang has treated me very well.”

“But I am me, and the Su family is the Su family.”

He looked up at Li Yun and said quietly, "While I am here, I can keep the Su family's sons in check. But if I am no longer here, Erlang, please do not take my dead person's feelings into consideration and let the Su family's descendants go easy on them."

"The Su family, the Su family's favors and honors over the years have been... have been too heavy."

He looked straight at Li Yun and said, word by word, "To indulge them is... to harm them."

"later…"

General Su murmured, "It will inevitably...bring about a catastrophe. If it doesn't bring disaster, the Su family itself will become the disaster..."

The emperor sighed and said, "Why do you think so much, brother?"

Su Sheng coughed a few times: "I've been thinking about these things for the past few years while I've been bedridden."

"Most of my sons are sensible, but what if they break the law in the future..."

He looked at Li Yun, his eyes now pleading: "Second Master, please give my title of Duke to Su Zhan's faction."

The emperor thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Su Zhanhui is a separate entity, and your Duke of Wei's mansion is the Duke of Wei's mansion. It's not related to him..."

"It has nothing to do with us."

Su Sheng seemed to have known that Li Yun would say that, so he just sighed and said nothing more.

"There is also an old story."

Su Sheng paused for a moment before looking at Li Yun and saying quietly, "Second Brother, although Zhao Cheng has made mistakes over the years, he has generally made contributions. For the past ten years or so, he has served diligently as Minister of War..."

The emperor knew what he was going to say, shook his head, and then said, "My second son has already gone to Guanzhong. I don't know how many times he'll be able to return to Luoyang in his lifetime. And my imperial concubine..."

"She is gentle and mild-mannered, and would not do anything outrageous."

"and."

The emperor said slowly, "I'm not dead yet."

Su Sheng hummed in agreement and said in a low voice, "If the Zhao family can live peacefully for generations, it will be a good story recorded in history books."

"The virtue of my Great Tang Emperor will surely be recorded in history and remembered for eternity..."

His Majesty the Emperor sighed, "My elder brother is truly kind."

Su Sheng looked at Li Yun and said sincerely.

"Since the founding of the nation, His Majesty has been the most benevolent ruler."

The emperor looked at the stove with burning charcoal beside him, remained silent for a moment, and then sighed.

"I wonder if I'll still look the same when I'm old."

(End of this chapter)