The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 312 The Troublesome Child

Gao Shilian smiled and said, "Yes, Guanzhong was not like this before. I prefer the Guanzhong of the past. The old guys always feel uncomfortable when things and people are no longer the same."

The old man put all the washed dates into a cloth bag and said as he packed them up: "In the past, it was busy in spring, then in summer and autumn, and now, it is busy in winter as well."

Gao Shilian asked, "Is your child busy too?"

"Busy." The old man sat by the river, sorting out the cloth bags and continued to fill them with red dates. "Before, we shared bread at home. Now that we have a little meat, the children want to eat meat every meal. I have been busy all the time. I am still in the workshop now."

The old man looked at the prince who had just caught a fish and asked, "Is that your child?"

Gao Shilian replied: "Grandson."

"This grandson seems to be a very energetic child, but has he started a family?"

"I'm married and have two children."

My uncle had no interest in fishing, so Li Chengqian simply used two fishing rods, sat on a stool, and wore a bamboo hat. A few drops of rain fell from the already gloomy sky.

When the rain got heavier, Li Chengqian had the carriage driven to the riverside and sat on the shaft to fish.

A fast horse came over. It was Li Keshi. He pulled the reins, jumped off the horse, and said in a loud voice: "Your Highness, this is the letter from Prince Teng."

People had just been sent to Teng County, and Li Chongyi and his men had probably just started taking action.

Now, Prince Teng sent someone to deliver a letter.

Most likely, when the memorial impeaching Prince Teng was delivered to the court, Prince Teng's letter was also on the way.

"His Royal Highness."

Seeing that His Highness was taking a long time to pick up the letter, Master Li called out again.

Li Chengqian reached out and took the paper, opened the book and what caught his eye was not a letter, but a painting, a painting of a butterfly.

The painting skills are amazing, and butterflies come alive on the paper.

But there were no other words on the whole piece of paper except the seal of Prince Teng. He just asked someone to deliver a painting.

Li Chengqian asked, "Why? Does he have this kind of painting in Tengwang Pavilion?"

"Your Highness, Prince Teng has hung all these paintings in the pavilion, and some are painted on the walls. I have heard that there are many scholars and drinkers in Prince Teng's pavilion, and they are all famous people."

Noticing the prince's gaze, Li Keshi immediately bowed respectfully.

"You are traveling with the Emperor. Is the trip going well?"

"Your Highness, everything went well. Judging from the route you took, Your Majesty should be at the foot of Mount Tai now if you hadn't stopped on the way."

Li Chengqian put away the painting, tied up the roll of paper with a rope, and put it into the carriage.

"I will retire at the end."

Although we do not know the purpose of Prince Teng's painting, nor do we know what the painting wants to express, even if there is a deeper meaning, we cannot understand it.

When Li Chengqian looked to the side again, his uncle, who had been talking to the old man, had already left in another car.

Xue Wanbei replied, "Your Highness, Duke Xu said he was tired and went back."

Li Chengqian also picked up his fishing rod, released all the fish he had caught today, and said, "Let's go back."

"Here."

When Li Yuanying was about to be escorted to Chang'an, winter had already arrived in Guanzhong. Li Chengqian saw the military report sent from Mobei, which said that General Li Ji led 3,000 Turkic cavalry to fight against 3,000 Tang cavalry in Baidaochuan.

Taking advantage of the Turkic cavalry's feigned defeat and luring the Mobei people into pursuit, the Later Tang army rushed in and defeated more than 3,000 people in one fell swoop. A leader of the Mobei tribe named Datushe fled.

Li Ji seized the horses and baggage and did not pursue the enemy any further. It was a freezing cold day and he would freeze to death if he pursued them into the northern desert.

Duke Ying won the first battle in Yinshan, and Zhenzhu Khan sent another letter, expressing his willingness to agree to the previous conditions and provide enough cattle, sheep and horses for the marriage with the Tang Dynasty.

The original price was one thing, but now that the Tang army has set out, nothing we say is enough.

As I was reading the military newspaper, a chubby boy came to me, and he said sweetly, "Daddy!"

Li Chengqian had no choice but to put him in his arms and let him sit down in his arms while he continued to read the memorial.

Little Yu Tu blinked, looked up at the face, and then stretched out his little hand to scratch his father's blue stubble.

Li Chengqian let his son's hand stretch out randomly and looked at the file with a frown.

"Daddy, I...can't...read."

He just turned one year old, so of course he couldn't read. But now Su Wan was teaching him some things, such as how to address people and animals or people of different ages.

The child is learning to understand people and speak.

Li Chengqian said: "If you don't learn, you won't have food to eat."

"No..." Little Yutu stood up by tossing his legs and stepping on his father's knees, saying, "I want to eat noodles."

“Then you have to learn.”

"Ah..." He pursed his lips and scratched his father's stubble with his little hands, looking aggrieved.

Li Chengqian picked up another memorial and looked at it, saying, "Why don't you go play with grandma?"

Little Yu Tu nodded happily. He crawled out from under his father's arms and ran to the outside of the hall with staggering steps. His small cloth shoes stepped heavily. After running two steps, he fell down with a plop. He quickly got up again, not feeling any pain. He ran a few more steps and grabbed the door, shouting, "Mom!"

Su Wan came hurriedly on the snow, picked him up and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Daddy asked the child to go play with grandma."

"See you after dinner."

"Yeah." Xiao Yutu clapped happily.

The child wanted to clap his hands when he was happy, but his little hands could not make any sound.

Compared to her son who has been lively and active since birth, her daughter is much quieter. She was playing with a small wooden car. It seemed that the small wooden car made her unhappy. She threw the toy hard, and the small wooden car rolled away on the ground.

She picked it up again, and shook the wooden cart vigorously in her tender hands.

Now it was still a little difficult for the little magpie to lift the wooden cart, which was bigger than her head. She frowned and looked inside the wooden cart, as if she wanted to see what was inside the toy.

Then she put the wooden cart on the ground and stepped on it hard.

The destructive power of her little feet was not enough to harm the wooden car at all, so she finally gave up, bent her short legs, and reached into the box to look for other toys.

After just a moment, Li Chengqian heard his daughter crying. It turned out that she reached out to take the toys in the box and fell into the wooden box.

"Ugh……"

Li Chengqian sighed.

Su Wan quickly walked into the hall again and picked up the little magpie.

The child stopped crying as soon as he was picked up, and looked very well behaved. This pair of children really have a talent for making trouble for their parents.

Li Chengqian was vaguely worried about his future life.

After approving several memorials in front of him, Li Chengqian stacked them up, held them in his hands, and faced his daughter in Su Wan's arms.

She said, "Daddy."

When the little magpie spoke, there were still tender teeth in its mouth.

Li Chengqian pinched her nose happily, and said to Su Wan, "I will leave after Ning'er comes back."

The prince still cares about his family very much. Su Wan felt warm in her heart and said, "It's okay. There are so many maids here who can take good care of him."

Li Chengqian said, "Now that our family has these two living ancestors, if we are not optimistic, we are afraid that these two children will crawl into the snow and bury themselves. Wait for Ning'er to come back, and you should also have a good rest."

"Yeah." Su Wan nodded and no longer objected.

Ning'er went to visit her mother. When she came back, she brought new clothes for the children. Su Wan also had some free time to take a rest.

The palace maids were busy preparing various matters of daily life under Ning'er's arrangement.

Snowflakes were floating between the sky and the earth. After walking for a while, some snow accumulated on his body. When Li Chengqian walked out of Chengtian Gate, he met his uncle who was waiting there.

Zhang Sun Wuji said: "Your Highness, Prince Teng is in Zongzheng Temple."

Li Chengqian asked: "Is this trip smooth?"

"Li Chongyi and Wen Ting have been investigating in Teng County for a long time. This is the file they found."

Seeing his uncle meant looking at the file first and then going to the Zongzheng Temple for questioning. Li Chengqian took the file and stood under the Chengtian Gate looking at it.

The soldiers on both sides stood straight. Now they had warm cotton-padded clothes in the winter, and their armors were bulging with the cotton-padded clothes. They looked very energetic.

Li Chengqian looked at the file and asked, "Did Prince Teng instruct you to do this?"

"Your Highness, Zhang Xingcheng questioned me on the way here."

The contents of the file are about the events before and after the construction of Tengwang Pavilion. At the beginning of the construction of Tengwang Pavilion in Teng County, there were people helping Prince Teng, most of whom were local gentry, that is, some famous officials.

Zhang Sun Wuji said: "When the Tengwang Pavilion was first built, someone died. The Tengwang was afraid at first. He was afraid that the matter would be known by the court, so he bribed the governor and the prefecture government to keep the matter secret."

When Prince Teng said he wanted to build the Tengwang Pavilion, he could not mobilize such a huge amount of manpower and resources. There must be someone behind the scenes who was acting as a middleman and there were also vested interests involved.

And those who moved among celebrities, drinkers, and wealthy families were the ones who helped Prince Teng Li Yuanying build the Tengwang Pavilion.

It is hard to say whether these people have ulterior motives. They may have escaped by now, but Prince Teng also gave some names.

What celebrities, what elegance, haha... How could they care about the hard work that built the Pavilion of Prince Teng? When they are enjoying themselves among the carved railings and jade bricks, do they still remember the souls who died under the Pavilion of Prince Teng?

Prince Teng had a very bad temper, and he committed many evil things in his fiefdom. He imposed heavy taxes and levied heavy taxes, and some people even fanned the flames, helped him deceive the court, and acted as middlemen.

The evil done by one person often does not cause much trouble, but when a group of people do evil, it can cause great harm to the local area.

Zhang Sun Wuji said: "Prince Teng is not the only one involved in this matter. Prince Jiang Li Yuanxiang is also helping him."

Li Chengqian looked unhappy after reading the files. He remembered Ning'er's advice. If he had amassed wealth like Li Yuanying, many people would have come to him for help and harmed even more people.

My father’s brothers are not necessarily like the Prince of Jiangxia and the Prince of Hejian.

Li Chengqian walked towards the Zongzheng Temple. At this moment, the area in front of the temple was very lively, with many relatives there.

Among his many uncles, the youngest one, Prince Teng, Li Yuanying, was his grandfather's youngest son, even younger than himself, the crown prince.

Seventeen-year-old Li Yuanying is now standing in front of the Zongzheng Temple. Li Xiaogong, who has just returned from Shuofang, is glaring at him. Li Daozon is also here.

What surprised Li Chengqian was that in addition to Prince Teng, there were also Prince Jiang Li Yuanxiang and Princess Changguang.

Li Yuanxiang was broad and fat, several times fatter than Li Tai.

"I wonder who dares to touch my Nascent Soul!" Li Yuanxiang shouted as he stood in front of everyone.

"Don't be so presumptuous!" Li Xiaogong shouted angrily, "Look at the rotten things you have done in your fiefdom. You have brought shame upon the royal family."

Li Yuanying was standing at the back, shivering, and it was unclear whether he was frozen or frightened.

Li Yuanxiang said loudly: "It's not your turn to talk about what I'm waiting for!"

It has to be said that Li Yuanxiang's domineering nature has reached such an extent.

Li Daozon was naturally not a pushover, and he slapped Li Yuanxiang in the face.

The other person was slapped in the face and wanted to speak again, but he didn't know what to say.

Yes, when these two were conquering the world, they didn’t know where they were and didn’t have the courage to fight back.

Seeing that the atmosphere was about right, Li Chengqian and his uncle walked forward.

Li Xiaogong quickly bowed and said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince!"

Glancing at everyone, Li Chengqian said, "Come in and talk."

"Yes!" Li Xiaogong let the prince enter the Zongzheng Temple first, and then let everyone else in. Zhangsun Wuji followed his highness all the time.

It was very dark inside the Zongzheng Temple, with only a little light from the candlelight.

At least he could see everyone's expressions clearly. Li Chengqian was invited by Li Xiaogong to sit at the top, looking at a group of relatives of the Li Tang royal family.

He first put the file in his hand on the table without saying a word.

Princess Changguang smiled and stepped forward and said, "Oh, Chengqian has grown so tall. He really looks more and more like Your Majesty."

Li Chengqian remained silent, looking at the faces one by one. Some of them he had seen at previous banquets, while some of them he saw for the first time.

Princess Changguang added: "Back then, it was Zhao Jie who was ignorant. Auntie will not blame Cheng Qian. Now we should take care of each other as a family."

She emphasized the word "family" and glanced at Changsun Wuji standing beside her intentionally or unintentionally.

Li Chengqian looked at his uncle who was younger than himself and said, "Prince Teng, do you admit your guilt in Teng County?"

Before Li Yuanying could speak, Princess Changguang hurriedly asked, "Your Highness, what crime has Yuanying committed?"

Li Chengqian patted the thick file on the table and said, "The magistrate of Teng County and the governor of Tengzhou jointly submitted a petition. The censor Zhang Xingcheng found that Prince Teng Li Yuanying levied heavy taxes and levied heavy fines. All the wives and daughters of the ministers in the fiefdom were abducted by him. In order to build the Tengwang Pavilion, more than 600 of the 3,000 hard-working villagers were killed or injured, and more than 300 died of exhaustion."

Princess Changguang sighed, "The Yuanying incident was indeed a bit too much, but this world belongs to our Li family after all, and you can't just watch your uncles fall into trouble. When you become the emperor in the future, we will still have to assist Cheng Qian."

Li Chengqian raised his head and looked at the people in front of him, and said in a deep voice: "Well, father's brothers and sisters are going to disobey me now?"

Li Yuanxiang was fat and had a loud voice. He took a step forward and said loudly, "The emperor is still alive, so you are not allowed to be in charge here. How can a junior like you speak to me in such a tone!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Xiaogong slapped Li Yuanxiang in the face again.

The slap was very hard and the sound was very loud. There was an immediate red mark on Li Yuanxiang's face, and even some blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.

(End of this chapter)