The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 21 Isn't it a good thing

The reputation of the soap spread throughout Chang'an City like a gust of wind, just as a preliminary warning to this future market.

Li Chengqian sat by the wall of Chongwen Hall with his hands in his pockets and sighed again.

Yu Zhining frowned and asked, "Why is your highness sighing?"

"The envoys from various countries all want to marry a princess, just like Xueyantuo's Yinan Khan."

Hearing this, Xu Xiaode nodded and said, "Yinan Khan has indeed submitted a letter to Your Majesty, and Princess Shang is willing to marry the Tang Dynasty."

Li Chengqian frowned and said, "It has been nearly a thousand years since King Xiang of Zhou married a Di woman to conquer Zheng. Even if there were marriages with the Han Dynasty, the failure of the marriage policy is obvious."

Yu Zhining smiled and said, "I thought Your Highness had no interest in state affairs."

"How could I not care about state affairs? They are all my brothers and sisters."

As long as he didn't talk about his daughter, Xu Xiaode was still very positive about other things. He quickly asked, "Your Highness, do you want to oppose the marriage plan?"

"You think I shouldn't get involved in these state affairs, right?"

Yu Zhining said quickly: "If Your Highness is against the marriage, I am willing to advise His Majesty on Your Highness' behalf."

Li Chengqian put his hands in his pockets, still with a helpless look on his face, and said, "I'm sorry to make you laugh. I oppose state affairs and government politics. Maybe at my age, you all think I'm rebellious."

Yu Zhining said quickly: "Your Highness, please don't say that. If the marriage proposal is not appropriate, I will definitely advise you."

Maybe other children have a rebellious period, but Li Chengqian doesn't have a rebellious period at all. How can he be rebellious? He is not a child spoiled by his parents, and it is not easy for him to live.

"If the Tang Dynasty is strong enough, why would they need to marry off their daughters? I still can't figure it out, why would the two countries need to marry off their daughters in diplomacy?" Li Chengqian said, "I've been thinking about this question a lot lately."

Yu Zhining and Xu Xiaode looked at each other and were also speechless.

Not long after, Ning Er came hurriedly and said, "Your Highness, the Emperor is here."

Hearing this, Yu Zhining said, "Your Highness's doubts, I will think about them carefully after I return and give you an answer."

Xu Xiaode also bowed and said, "I will take my leave."

Ning Er looked at the two men leaving and whispered, "Your Highness, they are still not firm enough."

Li Chengqian stood up with his hands in his pockets, ready to greet the retired emperor Li Yuan, while replying: "Sister Ning'er, I am sorry to make you laugh. I feel lonely and it is hard to find a confidant."

"Your Highness now needs someone who can be of the same mind as the East Palace."

"One mind? It's good enough that they don't criticize me. Besides, I'm not immune to criticism."

Sister Ning Er added: "His Majesty has not yet agreed to the marriage."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "Even if there is, we must destroy it."

Sometimes I feel that being a prince is a heavy burden.

One has to worry about both family affairs and national affairs. It is really a headache to think about the Tang Dynasty's current limited diplomatic means.

Sometimes I really want to be an emperor myself, and follow Liu Bang's example to make his father the emperor emeritus. From then on, there would be two emperors emeritus in three generations of the Tang Dynasty.

Isn’t this a wonderful story?
Standing in front of the palace, Li Chengqian continued to talk to Ning'er in a low voice, saying, "Sister Ning'er, how about you becoming the chief official of the East Palace? I think you are very suitable to assist me."

Ning Er covered her mouth and laughed, "Your Highness is making fun of this servant again."

"Your values ​​are quite compatible with mine."

"Your Highness!" Ning'er suppressed her smile and glared again.

Although she knew that His Highness really had such thoughts, Ning'er was well aware of her own identity. She had a smile on her face and just wanted to treat these as jokes.

There was a quarrel coming from not far away.

An old man with slightly gray hair on his temples walked quickly towards them, arguing with the eunuch behind him as he walked.

"Your Majesty, please allow me to go and inform the Crown Prince to come and greet you."

Hearing what the old eunuch said, Li Yuan looked unhappy and said, "What are you reporting? This is my grandson."

Li Chengqian followed Ning'er forward, bowed and said, "Grandson, meet the Emperor."

Li Yuan stroked his beard and asked in a deep voice, "Are you well?"

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "My grandson has recovered."

Looking left and right, Li Yuan nodded continuously, and patted his eldest grandson on the shoulder again, saying: "This body is still not strong enough. Children of my Li family should not be so weak."

"Grandpa Huang is right. In the future, your grandson must exercise well."

Li Yuan looked serious, looked around, and said, "I heard from Xiaogong that the food in your East Palace is good. I have no appetite for the food in the palace recently, so I came to your place to eat."

After saying this, the emperor looked around again and asked, "Where is Gao Shilian?"

Li Chengqian looked at the Chongwen Hall behind him and said, "It's inside the hall."

Li Yuan walked into the hall with big strides and saw Gao Shilian who was cooking ramen.

The unfinished game on the chessboard had been cleaned up by him at some point, and now the chessboard was empty.

"You're here?" Gao Shilian smiled as if he had met an old friend he hadn't seen for many years.

"Bring some wine!" Li Yuan said loudly, then sat down.

Ning'er and the palace maids from the East Palace brought wine and some simple home-cooked meals, a fried egg with chopped green onions, a plate of mutton, and some bean sprouts.

Gao Shilian served a bowl of ramen and said, "Try it."

Li Yuan took the bowl, took a sip of the clear soup, and then started to eat the noodles with relish.

Li Chengqian sat down aside, with his hands in his pockets, looking a little melancholy.

Now, Donggong has really become a noodle shop, and you don’t have to pay for it.

Li Yuan ate noodles and said, "The marriage we talked about at the beginning has encountered twists and turns again. Are you, an old man, relieved?"

Gao Shilian looked up at the prince and said, "Yes, I didn't agree to this marriage at the beginning."

Li Yuan was chewing noodles.

The emperor looks like a naughty old boy. He comes when he is told to and eats when he is told to.

In the palace, no one dared to stop the emperor.

Li Chengqian sat aside, supporting his chin with his hands and looking outside the hall.

Li Yuan took another sip of wine and said with emotion: "Li Xiaogong is right. The food in the East Palace tastes better. What did I eat in the past? Are those things really for people to eat?"

Hearing this, the old eunuch who came with the retired emperor felt ashamed and could only remain silent.

The crown prince is the eldest grandson of Gao Shilian, and the crown prince is also the eldest grandson of the retired emperor Li Yuan.

Li Yuan was the grandfather, and Gao Shilian was the real grandfather. After all, he was the uncle of Empress Changsun, and Empress Changsun and Zhangsun Wuji were raised by Gao Shilian.

It is truly a wonderful story that the two families can sit together, drinking and eating in their grandson's East Palace.

Li Yuan asked, "I heard that you brought all the kids from Lizheng Palace to the Eastern Palace?"

"My grandpa, my mother needs to be nursed back to health, so I want to share her worries."

"Well, that's good. I also heard that after the incense burner was removed, the air in the Lizheng Hall is clean and very suitable for recuperation." As long as Empress Changsun is fine, Gao Shilian is willing to continue helping the Li family.

Li Yuan knew it very well, but he was unwilling to say it out loud. Instead, he felt that he had eaten and drunk enough, so he got up and left.

When he came to Li Chengqian, he stopped, patted his grandson on the back, and said, "Chengqian, you are a lucky child. Your uncle is an extraordinary person."

The voice was not loud, only the grandfather and grandson could hear it.

Li Yuan continued, "Whether it's Yu Zhining or Xu Xiaode, they are not as good as your uncle. If he can teach you, I will die without regrets."

After whispering, Li Yuan walked out of the Chongwen Hall.

Li Chengqian stood outside the hall and bowed to see him off.

After seeing grandpa off, I returned to the temple again.

Gao Shilian stroked his beard and asked, "What did the emperor say to Your Highness?"

"Grandpa Emperor said that neither Yu Zhining nor Xu Xiaode could be as good as you, my uncle, to tutor me."

Gao Shilian shook his head and said, "I am old now, and I recommended those two to Your Majesty to serve as officials in the Eastern Palace. Your Highness, don't worry, they are all upright people."

"Of course I believe in my uncle."

"Well, don't try to get someone else's daughter."

"I don't have any."

"No?"

"A little bit." Li Chengqian smiled awkwardly and said, "I'm sorry to have made you worry, uncle. I just think that girl is very kind and talented."

Gao Shilian looked at Ning'er beside him again, his eyes sharp as if he could see through people's hearts, and said slowly: "Isn't it enough to have such a powerful woman by your side?"

"It would be fine if my grandson wasn't the crown prince, but he is the crown prince, which is not enough for the crown prince of the East Palace."

"Hmph, what a loud tone."

As he spoke, Gao Shilian's eyes showed a little more appreciation, and he said, "You all go out first."

Ning'er bowed slightly to the other palace maids and quickly left Chongwen Hall.

Now only the grandfather and grandson were left in the palace. Gao Shilian said, "That day, after the banquet in Taiji Palace, I learned that you asked the East Palace maid to take care of Xu Hui. I asked someone to find out. You have a good eye. Xu Hui is indeed a talented and gifted girl."

"It turns out that my uncle has been planning for his grandson for a long time."

"You are my eldest grandson. If I don't help you, who else can I help?"

Li Chengqian smiled awkwardly again, "Thank you for your help, uncle."

Gao Shilian said helplessly: "It's not the first or second time."

"Thank you, uncle, for your help."

"Did you instigate what happened to Du He?"

"It turns out that my uncle saw through this, too."

Gao Shilian continued, "Why do you think Changsun Wuji gave Du He a thousand strings of cash? It was because I asked him to take out the money. Fortunately, he didn't know the inside story, so I have blocked it for you."

At this point, Gao Shilian simply sat down next to his grandson and frowned, "Your East Palace obviously has everything you need, but you still want Du He to make paper for you?"

Li Chengqian said calmly: "Uncle, everything in the Eastern Palace comes from my father."

Gao Shilian asked in return: "What else?"

Li Chengqian replied: "It's better to have it yourself than to have it from your father and mother."

Hearing this, Gao Shilian's eyes became more appreciative and he said, "To be honest, you are better than that kid Li Tai."

"Qingque is better than me in both talent and writing."

"You are more ambitious than him. Qingque is just a clever kid. You are nothing to be afraid of." Gao Shilian said lightly.

Li Chengqian smiled awkwardly.

Gao Shilian lowered his voice and leaned forward to say, "What Zhao Jie, what Honglou, or what kind of woman you want, as long as I say a word, Xu Xiaode will send her daughter to the East Palace and hand her over to you. None of this matters."

Li Chengqian looked suspicious.

"Hahaha." Gao Shilian shook his head and laughed, then suddenly became serious again and said, "But I can only fulfill your wish after the Eastern Palace has a Crown Princess. Is that girl pretty?"

"She looks ordinary, but what matters to my grandson is her talent."

"Who do you think should be the Crown Princess? How about a woman from one of the five surnames?"

"My wife must be kind and virtuous, and her maternal line must be simple and not too numerous, so that she can be easily controlled."

"Is there anything else that I don't know?"

"In fact, there is no Mr. Cao."

"Well, go on."

Li Chengqian said: "My grandson has business dealings with the Prince of Hejian."

Gao Shilian nodded and said, "Let's talk about it later."

"My grandson wants to be the emperor now."

"Hmm..." Gao Shilian stroked his beard for a while, then clicked his tongue and said, "Hmm? What did you just say?"

"Just a little thought, sorry to make you laugh, uncle."

There was a sigh in the hall, and Gao Shilian said slowly: "Being an emperor is no joke. In my opinion, the world belongs to your Li family. You are the crown prince, and sooner or later the world will be yours."

"You also said that it was only a matter of time."

"Ugh……"

Gao Shilian was still very satisfied with his grandson, too satisfied. He continued talking with the prince, and as they talked, he began to plan a rebellion and try to usurp the throne.

"It's getting late." Gao Shilian suddenly said, exhaling the smell of alcohol and slowly said, "I drank a little too much today."

Li Chengqian asked: "Uncle, are you drunk?"

Gao Shilian nodded and said, "I will go back right away."

"You walk slowly."

"Your Highness, there is no need to send me off."

Li Chengqian still escorted Gao Shilian out of the Chengtian Gate of the imperial palace. His servants were waiting outside the gate.

I watched my uncle walk away, supported by his servants.

Only then did Li Chengqian retract his gaze and walked back to the East Palace with his hands in his pockets.

Seeing the sad look on His Highness's face, Ning'er stepped forward and asked, "Your Highness, how was the conversation with Duke Xu?"

Li Chengqian said calmly: "The East Palace should have a team."

(End of this chapter)