Thief Emperor

Chapter 1168 A Young Couple Grows Old Together

The Crown Prince, who had been sitting before the Emperor, smoothly knelt on the ground upon hearing this, his face contorted in a pained expression: "Father, you..."

"You've only been back in Luoyang for a year..."

The emperor raised his head, looked at him, and frowned, saying, "A few days ago, the Secretariat reported the autumn harvest results for this year. It's another bumper year. Have you seen it?"

The Crown Prince ignored him and continued, head bowed, "Father, you've only been back in Luoyang for a year. There are still many matters, big and small, in the court that await your attention. My fifth brother's and third sister's weddings are almost both scheduled for next year. And what will be the regulations for the Hanlin Academy next year? Should the Ministry of Revenue's new taxes be implemented in Longyou Circuit next year...?"

He kept rambling on and on, showing no sign of stopping, until His Majesty the Emperor coughed, interrupting him.

"You get up first."

The crown prince had no choice but to stop talking, let out a long sigh, and stood up.

The Emperor ignored the Crown Prince's ramblings and continued, "This year is a bumper year. The tax exemptions two years ago have recovered. The Ministry of Revenue has enough grain and money in reserve to support my travels. Moreover, even if the Ministry of Revenue doesn't provide the funds, my own private treasury has enough..."

His Highness the Crown Prince finally couldn't hold back any longer. He sat down in the chair with a wry smile and said, "Why are you imitating your son like this?"

The emperor laughed and said, "Am I not telling the truth?"

"If you save money and don't spend it, it will just rot in the warehouse and be of no use."

He continued to look at the Crown Prince and said with a smile, "Moreover, your father's trip was not by his own will. You have read many memorials from the past few years. Many ministers have submitted memorials requesting that I go to Mount Tai to perform the Fengshan ceremony."

"Although we are not yet in a golden age, the world is at least somewhat peaceful. I think we should go to Yanzhou."

He said with a smile, "Since the ancient emperors are going, I'll go and join in the fun too."

At this point, he looked at the Crown Prince and continued, "You should take good care of the court and learn how to govern the country. If you govern well in the future, you can also go there."

The Crown Prince remained silent for a moment before speaking, "Father wishes to preserve his reputation, and I dare not obstruct him."

He looked up at his father, remained silent for a moment, and then asked, "Father, how long will it take for you to return this time?"

After asking that question, he looked into Li Yun's eyes and asked his second question.

"After you come back... will you go out again?"

Emperor Li was taken aback, then looked at the Crown Prince and laughed heartily.

His mood finally improved.

His eldest son, ever since he was fifteen or sixteen and became sensible, has always been somewhat timid and hesitant in front of him, sometimes not daring to speak.

This is partly due to my own personality, but more so due to my identity.

Now, after years of political involvement and with his position firmly established, the Crown Prince has finally become less timid, and it has become normal for him to speak and communicate with him sometimes.

This normalization doesn't mean equal dialogue, but rather that they've become like ordinary fathers and sons in the community.

This alone made Li Yun very happy.

After laughing a few times, His Majesty the Emperor said, "After this trip to Yanzhou to perform the Fengshan ceremony, we don't know when we'll be able to go out again. After all, your father will be almost fifty years old when we return from this trip."

As he spoke, Emperor Li sighed, "Time waits for no one. It's hard to say whether I'll be able to travel around in the future."

The crown prince was somewhat moved upon hearing this. He looked at his father and shook his head slightly, saying, "Father, you are still very young. You look to be at most forty years old."

"You also said he looks forty years old."

The emperor remained calm and said with a smile, "But a certain age is a certain age, and time doesn't lie."

He walked up to his son, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "At my age, this empire can no longer be considered my own. We, father and son, must shoulder this responsibility together."

Once the crown prince comes of age, if the emperor is going on a long trip, he generally will not take the crown prince with him and will leave him in the capital to look after the family.

Because if something goes wrong, the whole group could be wiped out.

Although the chances of something going wrong in the Zhangwu Dynasty are very low, it's always good to be prepared for the worst.

His Highness the Crown Prince stood up, tugged at Li Yun's sleeve, and sighed, "Father, please keep Prime Minister Du here. With him around, I will feel much more at ease."

Emperor Li smiled and said, "We'll discuss this when I leave."

"After I leave, you can help with the arrangements for the fifth prince's wedding. You don't need to worry too much about it; you can just oversee it and let the Prince of Chu handle the details."

The marriage of the Fifth Prince, Prince Xiang, Li Ling, has been arranged; he will marry the daughter of Li Hu, the former Vice Minister of War.

At this time, Li Hu was no longer serving as the Vice Minister of War, but had retired. However, he did not return to Taiyuan and continued to live in Luoyang.

The crown prince's eyes widened: "Uncle Prince Jin, are you taking him away too?"

He had already guessed it when Li Yun didn't mention the Prince of Jin.

The emperor was speechless: "Not necessarily, not necessarily."

After saying a few more things, he said, "Your Uncle Su's health is getting worse and worse. Lately, he has had difficulty getting out of bed. Go and see him when you have time. If anything happens, have Jiu Sifei write to me."

The crown prince sighed, bowed his head, and replied, "Okay."

The father and son talked for a long time before the emperor allowed the crown prince to return. After the crown prince left, Li Yun sat alone for a while, sorting out his thoughts, before getting up and going to Yongshou Palace.

Inside Yongshou Palace, the emperor gestured to the palace servants to keep quiet. He walked in with his hands behind his back and saw the Third Princess embroidering something with her head down. She was startled when Li Yun approached, and only breathed a sigh of relief after seeing that it was Li Yun.

"Father, you almost scared your daughter to death!"

The emperor smiled and said, "What are you embroidering, my dear girl? Have you taken a fancy to some young and handsome man?"

The third princess laughed and said, "No, that's not it." "Father's birthday is coming up in a few days, and your daughter is preparing a gift for you."

As she spoke, she measured the embroidery work in her hand, and saw that the handkerchief was covered with the character for longevity.

Emperor Li was somewhat lost in thought, and it took him a while to come back to his senses.

Before he knew it, he had reached the age where the character "寿" (longevity) was used.

Seeing Li Yun lost in thought, the Third Princess tugged at his sleeve and asked, "Father, don't you like it?"

Li Yun shook his head: "I like it, I like it."

Is your mother home? I'll go check on her.

The Third Princess said with a smile, "I knew you came to see your mother. You don't seem to care about your daughter at all."

Li Yun was speechless for a moment before replying, "I came to see your mother, so I came to see you too?"

"Once you get married, you really won't be able to see me anymore."

The Third Princess pulled Li Yun and led her into the palace. At this time, the Imperial Concubine had also been alerted and came out to greet the Emperor.

The emperor stopped Consort Liu, who was about to kneel, and shook his head, indicating that she did not need to kneel.

After the couple sat down, the third princess went to prepare tea with a smile.

The emperor looked at Consort Liu and sighed, "Are you feeling any better lately?"

Since her last illness, Consort Liu's health has been very weak. She is frequently ill and rarely goes out, often remaining in bed.

This is also one of the reasons why Li Yun has never allowed the Third Princess to get married.

He was the emperor. Even if he had only one concubine, Liu Su, he would be too busy with official duties to visit her often.

Having her daughter by her side brought Empress Liu a great deal of comfort.

Otherwise, Li Yun was really worried that she wouldn't be able to hold on.

Liu Su shook her head: "A few days ago, a famous doctor came and prescribed a medicine for me, and my health has improved a lot since then."

The emperor nodded, took Liu Huangfei's hand, looked at the few gray hairs that had grown on her head, and sighed softly.

A year ago, Consort Liu didn't have many gray hairs.

Seeing Li Yun's gaze, Consort Liu turned her head away, somewhat saddened: "Your Majesty, please don't look."

Li Yun shook his head and said with a smile, "We're a young couple, what's the big deal?"

Consort Liu said sadly, "I am already getting old."

Li Yun held her hand and shook his head, saying, "It's still early."

"I'm going out for a walk in a few days. I came to see Su Mei to ask if you want to come with me?"

“It’s not good to be cooped up in the palace every day.”

Empress Liu looked up at Li Yun.

"Does Your Majesty permit me to accompany you?"

The imperial harem was full of young and beautiful concubines and talented women in their teens and twenties.

Li Yun said with a smile, "Isn't that why I came to find you?"

"When we get back from this trip, we'll have Erlang bring his family to Luoyang so you can meet them."

"If you're angry, just yell at him or beat him up."

Empress Liu sighed: "What's the use of that?"

Li Yun remained silent.

After a long while, she took Li Yun's hand and said, "Your Majesty asked me to come along, so I will accompany Your Majesty out."

Li Yun then smiled and said, "When the time comes, let Afu come along too."

Empress Liu nodded and said quietly, "Let Afu get married this time. Keeping her here any longer will only delay her."

Li Yun said with a smile, "What's there to worry about when our Li family's daughter is getting older? Even if she gets older, why would she have trouble getting married?"

"They're different after all."

Empress Liu sighed softly, "It's better for young couples to be together."

Li Yun put his arm around her and nodded slowly.

Not far away, the Third Princess was carrying tea and was about to come over to refill her parents' teacups when she saw them embracing each other from afar, so she quickly turned her head away.

"Alas."

The third princess ran a few steps, but her heart was pounding.

"Father and Mother."

"How enviable..."

(End of this chapter)