The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 147 Letter from Thousands of Miles Away

Inside the Taiji Hall, many people were discussing and whispering to each other.

But everyone could understand that His Majesty was unwell. After all, it was freezing cold, and there were many people in the palace who came to court while sick.

But it is rare that both Your Majesty and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince are ill.

Everyone speculated that someone was looking at the eunuch who delivered the message with displeasure.

The two eunuchs who delivered the message bowed their heads and said, "Today, please invite His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei and His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu to preside over the morning court."

After saying this, the two eunuchs quickly left the Taiji Hall.

In Li Xiaogong's eyes, these two eunuchs seemed to be running for their lives, and in the eyes of some people in the court, they seemed to want to eat people.

Then everyone stood still again and looked at Prince of Wei Li Tai and Prince of Wu Li Ke who were standing in front of the court.

Li Ke, who had no experience in presiding over a morning court, was very flustered. Facing the gazes of the civil and military officials in the court, he smiled awkwardly and then stood stiffly where he was.

How did the emperor preside over the morning court in the past?
A lot of thoughts flashed through my mind in an instant.

Li Tai's fat face was twisted. Neither his father nor his elder brother came to the morning court. There must be other reasons for this. Saying that they were unwell must be an excuse.

Seeing that his other brother Li Ke was still standing there stiffly, Li Tai turned his gaze to Fang Xuanling, the prime minister in the court.

"Since my father and my brother are both ill today, please ask Prime Minister Fang to preside over the morning court."

Fang Xuanling nodded, bowed again, walked out of the court, faced everyone and began to preside over the morning court.

While the morning court was still in progress, Li Chengqian returned to the Eastern Palace from the Wude Hall. The morning after the snow was particularly cold and the sky was gloomy.

The younger brothers and sisters watched their brother eat a bowl of oatmeal porridge with an expressionless face, and then returned to the bedroom.

Li Zhi curiously asked the emperor's sister beside him, "What's wrong with my brother?"

Last night, my brother did not return home all night. The palace maid sent by my mother said that my brother was playing cards with my father and grandfather.

Li Lizhi put down her bowl and chopsticks, stood up and followed Sister Ning'er.

As soon as the emperor returned to the bedroom, he fell asleep. Sister Ning'er helped to light the heater beside him. Li Lizhi noticed a note beside him.

She looked at the note suspiciously and asked curiously: "Brother, what is this?"

Li Chengqian lay on the couch with his back to his sister and whispered, "This is the IOU from my father."

"IOU?" Li Lizhi looked at the IOU with a more solemn expression. She put the IOU away and placed it on the top of the bookshelf to avoid being seen by her younger brothers and sisters.

Looking at Princess Changle's behavior, Sister Ning'er held back her smile. Her Royal Highness the Princess still defended His Majesty's face.

In Lizheng Hall, Empress Changsun had actually already rested in Wude Hall, and the father, son, grandfather and grandson played cards together until dawn.

Your Majesty is extremely tired at this moment.

At the same time, His Majesty was very lost and sad.

The queen was arranging the clothes in the palace and was also silent.

The palace maid hurried over to report, "Empress, the Prince of Wei is here."

Empress Changsun stood up, handed little Sizi to the care of the palace maid, and walked out of the palace.

When he saw his mother, Li Tai bowed and said, "Mother, I heard that my father was ill, so I came to visit him."

Empress Changsun looked at her son who was still so fat and sighed, "Your father is not ill. He played cards with your brother and grandfather all night long. Now he is back exhausted and is resting."

Li Tai understood it, but was also surprised. He had been prepared for his father and brother to fall ill at the same time, which was obviously impossible.

It was not beyond his expectations, but there was another hidden story.

But I really didn't expect that it was because of this kind of thing.

Empress Chang Sun added: "Don't disturb your father at this time."

Li Tai nodded and said, "I understand."

Compared to Cheng Qian's maturity and clarity, Qing Que has the mentality of an ordinary teenager. He is proud and often self-righteous.

Empress Changsun sat in front of the palace, carefully altering a piece of clothing, and whispered, "Sizi is getting bigger and bigger, I want to make a piece of clothing for her."

Li Tai looked at the needlework in his mother's hand and whispered, "Will this dress be too big for Sizi?"

Empress Changsun smiled and said, "It's okay. She can wear it when she grows up."

When Li Tai saw his mother smile, he frowned and felt touched. He then looked at his father in the hall. His father was lying on the couch with a steady breathing.

"You rarely hang out with Cheng Qian recently?"

"My dear mother, I have been working with many scholars at the Institute of Literature to compile a comprehensive geographical history."

Empress Changsun whispered, "That's true. Your brother is always worried about government affairs and rarely hangs out with you."

Li Tai said: "If I have time, I will go to the East Palace to visit my brother."

Empress Changsun said slowly, "Your brother is sometimes very busy, and sometimes he seems to handle state affairs calmly, but in my opinion, he has a lot of things in his heart that he wants to say but hides in his heart. Sometimes he also curses in the East Palace. If you have time, please help him more."

Li Tai nodded heavily, "I understand."

East Palace.

Li Chengqian slept for three hours and it was noon when he woke up.

Seeing that His Highness had woken up, Ning'er hurriedly brought hot water.

Li Chengqian sat on a chair and covered his face with a hot towel, trying to sober himself up.

Ning Er stood aside and whispered, "Your Highness the Crown Prince, Duke Zhao, the Minister of Rites, and Yu Zhanshi are already waiting in Chongwen Hall."

"Ah."

Li Chengqian's face was still covered with a cloth, and he just responded.

The cloth soaked in hot water was still steaming.

It took a while before he removed the cloth on his face. At this moment, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's face was also steaming.

After taking another sip of hot water, Li Chengqian felt much more sober. He walked out of the bedroom quickly and came to Chongwen Hall next to the East Palace.

My uncle, Li Baiyao, and Yu Zhining are standing here.

Li Chengqian took the bowl of wontons from Xiaofu, and she reminded him, "Your Highness has just woken up, so you can't eat anything oily. A bowl of wontons is best."

Seeing that everyone was looking at him holding a bowl of wontons, Li Chengqian asked, "Have you eaten everything?"

Li Baiyao bowed and said, "We have all finished our meal."

"Excuse me, everyone. The rule in the Eastern Palace is to eat on time." Li Chengqian asked while eating wontons, "I didn't come to the morning court today, and Qingque..."

Zhang Sun Wuji explained, "His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei has asked Prime Minister Fang to preside over the morning court." Li Chengqian, holding a wooden spoon in his hand, said with emotion, "Thank you for troubling me, Teacher."

Li Baiyao said: "Yinan Khan of Mobei asked the Tang Dynasty to help him and asked Tian Khan to appoint him as the Great Khan to conquer Mobei."

After finishing the wontons in the bowl, Li Chengqian handed the bowl and spoon to Xiaofu beside him and asked, "How is the war between Ashina She'er and Mobei going now?"

Zhang Sun Wuji replied: "Ashina She'er has bought a lot of war horses from the Uighurs and sent someone to tell him that he needs to trade with the Uighur tribal leaders and sell silk. After he gets more war horses, he will be able to defeat Mobei."

Seeing that the prince did not reply immediately, Yu Zhining said, "At this time, the Secretariat and the many generals of the Ministry of War have discussed that the Turkic Khan no longer wants him to fight. Without the support of the Khan, even if Ashina She'er gets more war horses, he may not be able to defeat the Mobei people."

Li Chengqian still agreed with Yu Zhining's idea. Ashina She'er was about to become an isolated army. In the eyes of the generals in the court, his defeat was inevitable, and going to conquer Mobei would be a last-ditch effort.

"Didn't you say these words in the morning court?"

Zhang Sun Wuji said, "Your Majesty and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince are not here today. We discussed these matters during the morning court session. Today's morning court session was presided over by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei and His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu. Prime Minister Fang wanted us to discuss these matters with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and listen to His Royal Highness's opinion."

Li Baiyao continued, "After Lu Dongzan sent the letter, His Highness has not responded. Sambuza went to the Honglu Temple to ask."

Li Chengqian ordered: "Please let your father make the decision on these matters. As for the matter of the Tibetan envoys, we will discuss it next year."

"Here."

Li Baiyao and Yu Zhining bowed and saluted.

Seeing his uncle's serious expression, Li Chengqian leaned closer and asked, "Uncle? Is there anything else important?"

Chang Sun Wuji whispered, "This morning we learned that His Majesty and His Highness were ill. Wei Zheng beat and scolded a eunuch, and the eunuch couldn't stand the beating and told the truth. Then we learned that His Majesty and His Highness had been killing each other at the card table all night."

"Ow..."

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "I don't want to leave either, but my father won't let me leave."

"Wei Zheng felt that your Majesty's action was inappropriate and should not be repeated in the future, so several people from the Censorate wrote memorials to persuade you. Now most of these memorials are in Ganlu Hall, and there are probably more than 30 of them."

He added: "Many people also mentioned His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. As the crown prince of the Eastern Palace, His Royal Highness should advise His Majesty not to play all night and not do this again in the future."

Li Chengqian said: "If the emperor behaves like this again in the future, I will definitely advise him against it."

The prince is still a good prince. He is so magnanimous and can admit his mistakes honestly, which makes people feel at ease.

After saying that, the people in front of him left one after another.

Light snow fell from the sky again. Li Chengqian sat outside the Chongwen Hall until his grandfather woke up. He smiled and said, "My father and I have both been persuaded."

After waking up, Li Yuan relaxed his back and said, "I have long said that winning or losing at the poker table is not important. You can only blame your father for never losing a game in his life."

Li Chengqian put his hands in his sleeves and said, "Grandpa is right."

This winter was generally smooth. After being persuaded by his ministers, my father ordered the court to rest.

Tonight, Donggong is having hotpot, with the younger brothers and sisters sitting around three or five small tables.

Li Chengqian sat alone at a table, reading a book in his hand and eating mutton hot pot.

Officials from all departments in the court received their salaries in mid-December of this year.

Since the crown prince took charge of the court's expenses, the court's salaries have been paid on time in the past two years, without any delay or deduction.

The strategy of increasing revenue and reducing expenditure has achieved very good results in the court.

As a result, the prince's reputation improved a lot both in the court and in the country.

Li Chengqian looked at the scroll in his hand and knew very well in his heart that power can change a person, or in other words, whether you are like a person or not is related to the amount of power in your hands.

Will the court officials listen to you?
Is it because you have great power that everyone has to listen to you?

You will have greater power only when everyone listens to you.

My uncle always said that as a prince, I should look further ahead, not worry about the gains and losses in front of me, and even less care about the small amount of money in Jingyang.

If a prince only cares about this little money from Jingyang, most people will probably not truly submit to you as the prince.

Instead, there will be more people who are jealous of Jingyang or the prince.

On the contrary, the prince should have the world in mind and focus on the entire Guanzhong. If he can make the entire Guanzhong prosperous, then all the people in Guanzhong will submit to you.

Xiaofu was not very happy while eating hotpot and looked unhappy. To her, the uncooked food was too simple.

On the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month in Guanzhong, a letter arrived in the Tang Dynasty from thousands of miles away.

It was sent all the way from the Sai River on the border of the Western Regions to Chang'an.

Last year, Monk Popo passed away. When Xuanzang traveled to the West, he was guided by this Indian monk Popo.

After his death, His Majesty the Eastern Palace sent someone to deliver a message to the King of Gaochang to inform Xuanzang of his death.

This ended the connection between the Eastern Palace and the Indian monk Popo.

At first it was just a casual remark, but I hope the message can really reach Xuanzang's ears.

However, this news was now delivered to the monk Xuanzang in the far Western Regions by the King of Gaochang, and Xuanzang wrote back to the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace of the Tang Dynasty.

It had been five years since Xuanzang left Guanzhong. According to the letter, the place where he was writing was Sai River in the Western Regions, which is near the city of Suiye.

Of course, the Tang Dynasty had not yet built Suiye City.

After some calculation, it can be concluded that Xuanzang was probably near Talas.

When he had nothing to do, the prince would go fishing. According to Li Ji, the prince liked to use fishing as an excuse to observe the people's sentiments in Guanzhong.

To put it more bluntly, the prince's so-called observation of the people's sentiments was actually to tighten the nerves of the county magistrates in Guanzhong counties, so that they could do their work with more dedication and not be perfunctory. If the prince knew about it, these county magistrates would be doomed.

Li Chengqian was sitting on a Hu stool, which was modified by the Ministry of Industry. From a distance, it looked like a flat wooden board, but with the cross-supported supports at the bottom, it became a stool.

In the ice and snow, Li Chengqian held the fishing rod in one hand and supported his chin with the other, staring at the hole in the frozen river.

The letter sent by Monk Xuanzang was placed aside, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had not picked it up to read it yet.

Li Ji stood beside His Highness, and Xue Wanbei led a team of officers and soldiers, looking around. If there was any rabbit approaching His Highness, it would be stepped on to death on the spot.

"Is there anyone in the court talking about me again?"

Li Ji said, "Your Highness, those people in the Censorate will still report on matters even if it is their holiday."

Li Chengqian stuffed a piece of beef jerky into his mouth, chewed it, and said, "I like fishing recently. What does it have to do with them?"

"To His Highness, it's just fishing, but to others, His Highness is here to inspect the people's sentiments in Guanzhong."

"Alas..." Li Chengqian sighed: "Even if that's the case, so what?"

Li Ji said: "They said that since His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has entrusted many matters to the county magistrates, he should trust the counties."

(End of this chapter)