The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 564: Legend of Laojun Mountain

The emperor did not announce Ashina She'er's death with great fanfare. His funeral was arranged by his son, and he was buried together with Jie Li, who had passed away many years ago.

The emperor lifted the curfew, and the city of Chang'an was brightly lit at night as people continued to celebrate the prince's wedding.

Li Chengqian returned to the palace and sat in front of the quiet Liangyi Hall. The East Palace should still be celebrating at this time.

In the Liangyi Palace, Ning'er handed over a bowl of tea and whispered, "Your Majesty."

Li Chengqian took the bowl of tea and took a sip.

Su Wan came over holding Xiao Fu's hand, and the two sat aside. She whispered, "My father got drunk in the East Palace and has been taken back."

"It seems that my father-in-law is also very happy tonight."

Li Chengqian drank tea and looked at the night sky. These stars have always been in the sky. Over a thousand years, there has been no change in these stars.

In the 24th year of Qianqing's reign, the Tang Dynasty, which had been peaceful for many years, welcomed the marriage of the crown prince. Happy events were one after another, and the crown prince's wedding was the biggest happy event in the past two years.

Ashina She'er's funeral was held in a low-key manner because it coincided with the prince's wedding date, and Li Chengqian instructed that they could be buried quietly.

Su Wan and Ning'er were both very satisfied with Shangguan Wan'er as the Crown Princess of the Eastern Palace. The Crown Prince brought his wife to meet his parents.

The Queen and Concubine Ning were talking to the Crown Princess.

Li Chengqian was walking with his son by the Taiye Lake.

Perhaps because of Your Majesty, in the eyes of people in the palace, the Crown Prince is unwilling to grow a beard, and the Crown Prince also does not like to drink.

Looking at the Crown Prince now, he looks very much like Your Majesty when he was young.

But compared to your Majesty's sharp edge back then, this prince is more sunny and kinder.

Perhaps, this prince will be a very good emperor. Such a sunny and kind prince will make people feel warm and at ease when he becomes emperor in the future.

Yu Tu walked aside and whispered, "Father, I still feel that the discussion I wrote was not good enough."

The wind blows across the Taiye Lake, creating ripples. After decades of scorching summers and cold winters, this place is still as beautiful as ever.

Li Chengqian stopped and asked, "What? Did Que'er read your article?"

Yu Tu nodded and said, "Que'er said it wasn't comprehensive enough."

"Don't worry about it. It's actually very well written. Very good."

Hearing this, Yu Tu paused for a moment and stared at his father's back in a daze. He felt a little dazed for a moment, as if his father had never aged, but he could vaguely see a hint of white on his father's temples.

"What? Something on your mind?"

Yu Tu followed with a smile, scratching his head with a silly grin.

Li Chengqian said: "It's not difficult to be an emperor. No one thinks that he can do a thing well. In the future, I will hand over the position to you. You can learn while being the emperor. If there is anything you don't understand, you can ask me, Shangguan Yi or the court officials."

Yu Tu looked at his father's back and felt inexplicably strong in his heart.

A female guard came quickly over. This was the female guard beside Dongyang. Li Chengqian looked at the person.

"Your Majesty, the old man retched several times after getting drunk, and Her Royal Highness the Princess is taking care of him."

Li Chengqian looked at his son behind him and said, "Come with me to take a look."

Yu Tu nodded heavily.

Inside the Chongwen Hall of the Eastern Palace, my father fell asleep after getting drunk. My father was already over seventy years old and shouldn't have drunk so much.

When Li Chengqian saw that his mother was also worried, he knew that his father's condition was not very good.

Inside the palace, Dongyang was giving his father an injection with a silver needle. As soon as the needle was inserted, his father immediately lay on the side of the bed and vomited.

Dongyang patted his father's back and whispered, "Finally, some water came out."

Li Shimin sat up again and said, "I'm much better."

Dongyang packed up his medicine box while complaining, "I know I'm old, but I can't drink like this. If I drink, I'll have to stay in bed for a long time before I can recover."

Li Shimin said: "I know."

Seeing Dongyang staring at him, Li Shimin said with a guilty conscience: "If I drink again, you can do whatever you want to me."

Dongyang still shook his head, gave a few more instructions, and left with the medicine box.

After his father and grandmother left, Yu Tu saw his grandfather trying to get out of bed, so he hurried over to support him.

"Yu Tu..."

Yu Tu said, "Grandpa, please speak, and I am listening."

"You are not as cold-blooded as your father. Some people say that your father is cold and ruthless in dealing with state affairs."

"My grandson thinks this is how we should govern the country."

"Your father is a very resourceful man, and he has great ambitions." Li Shimin slowly stood up and looked at the scenery outside the palace.

"My grandson has heard what people say about our father."

Li Shimin smiled and said, "I have only been emperor for twenty years, and your father has been on the throne for twenty-four years. Did he ever teach you how to be an emperor?"

"Father always teaches us carefully, but my grandson is so stupid that he never gets the point."

Li Shimin walked outside the Chongwen Hall and sighed, "I have so many children, but only him... I never taught him anything, nor did I worry about anything. Before the Eastern Expedition, when I looked back at him, he had already walked the path well."

After the grandfather and grandson talked and walked for a while, the originally weak emperor felt much better.

After the Crown Prince's wedding, the court rested for three days, and when the court was about to start, Shangguan Yi came to meet the emperor.

Li Chengqian walked along the wall of the imperial city and said to Shangguan Yi, "Originally, there was some moss here, but it has been kept very clean recently."

Shangguan Yi originally had reports from various places to report to Your Majesty, but he just listened to Your Majesty talking all the time.

"I have always told them that the palaces in the palace should be well maintained, and many leaky houses have been repaired this year."

When they reached Xuanwu Gate, Li Chengqian stopped and asked, "I heard that you haven't been getting along well with Xu Jingzong and the others recently?"

Shangguan Yi bowed and said, "I don't care about their gossip."

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "The marriage between our two families was arranged by me and my father. Yu Tu and your granddaughter have known each other since childhood. It is a good marriage. You don't need to care about other people's gossip."

“Here.” Shangguan Yi took out another memorial from his sleeve and whispered, “Your Majesty, a report on both sides of the canal.”

The report was a thick stack, describing the situation of official residences along the canal.

"I will hand over all state affairs to the Crown Prince. Please take good care of him in the future."

"I accept your order."

Li Chengqian put away the memorial and left after leaving these words.

I thought His Majesty just said this, even if it was just this one sentence, Shangguan Yi was very energetic every day to assist the prince. His Majesty did hand over more state affairs to the prince, and when the memorial of the official start of the construction of Jiayuguan in the Hexi Corridor was sent to Chang'an City, in order to build Jiayuguan, the Hexi Corridor recruited a lot of manpower, and the memorial of the Ministry of Works reported that there were roughly more than 3,000 people.

When the first autumn rain came in Guanzhong this year, Shangguan Yi finally understood the intention of His Majesty's words "please take good care of him".

This autumn, Your Majesty left Chang'an City and went to visit various places in the Central Plains.

The crown prince stayed in Chang'an to supervise state affairs, leaving Yu Zhining and Di Zhixun to assist him. All the civil and military officials in the court attended the morning court as usual to handle state affairs.

This year, the autumn rain came very suddenly in Guanzhong. The emperor's escort team consisted of more than 5,000 people, and the long team occupied the entire official road.

The team headed eastward, and in late September when autumn began in Guanzhong, Li Chengqian arrived at Tongguan.

The prefect of Tongguan was Cui Xuanwei, who had been stationed in Tongguan since returning from the Western Regions.

There were two hundred officials, three deputy generals, and a garrison of twenty thousand men in Tongguan.

At first, there were more troops stationed in Tongguan. During my father’s reign, there were more than 60,000 troops stationed there.

In the past two years, the number has been reduced to 20,000. Li Chengqian stood by the Yellow River, looking at the river and listening to Cui Xuanwei's report.

"Your Majesty, the water level of the Yellow River rises every autumn." Cui Xuanwei pointed to the riverbank by the Yellow River and said loudly, "It used to be a market place, but now it's flooded again."

Because it was raining, and the rain plus the sound of the rapids of the Yellow River, Cui Xuanwei had to speak loudly so that His Majesty could hear him clearly.

Li Daoyan, wearing a straw raincoat and holding an umbrella for His Majesty, said, "Your Majesty, the rain is too heavy."

The emperor has been living in Tongguan these days, and sheep are also raised in Tongguan.

Li Chengqian was eating a bowl of mutton head soup and asked Su Wan, who was also eating mutton soup, "Is there any difference between the mutton here and the mutton in Guanzhong?"

Su Wan'er shook her head and said, "Is it different?"

Li Chengqian took another bite and said, "The sheep eat different kinds of grass and water, so there should be some difference."

Xiaofu came over with a bowl of fish, put the steaming hot fish down, and said, "Tongguan fish has always been quite famous in Guanzhong."

Ning'er took a bite first and said as she ate, "It is indeed very fresh and tender."

The emperor and his family stayed in Tongguan until October before leaving.

The last time he came to Luoyang was twenty years ago. The emperor's team did not stop along the way, but first came to Laojun Mountain.

Li Chengqian stood at the foot of the mountain and could not see what was happening on the top of Laojun Mountain even if he looked up.

Gao Jifu, the governor of Luoyang, asked, "Your Majesty, do you want to go up the mountain?"

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "It's too high. I won't go."

"Yes." Gao Jifu then instructed the Luoyang officials behind him, "Your Majesty has issued an order. You don't need to inform Taoist Li."

A group of officials nodded.

When I was in the court, I faced familiar faces every day.

Here, Li Chengqian was looking at many young faces. The current officials were all officials who had entered the government through the imperial examination.

The vast majority of officials here are students of the supporting education programs. With the development of supporting education over the years, the number of students has increased.

These young officials might have to stay in one position for decades or half their life, and probably would never be transferred to Chang'an City in their entire lives. The only time they would go to Chang'an City was when they took the imperial examinations.

Li Chengqian asked Gao Ji Fu to take the officials here back to Luoyang first, and then camp at the foot of Laojun Mountain, planning to stay here for a few days.

During the autumn rainy season, looking up at Laojun Mountain, most of the top of the mountain is hidden in the clouds.

The army fenced off the land at the foot of the mountain. The emperor liked fishing, and there happened to be a river at the foot of Laojun Mountain.

The river water was clear and the current was not fast. As soon as Li Chengqian put the fishing line into the river, he saw a young man on the other side of the river.

The young man was very dark. He was holding a book in one hand and reading it while walking across the river.

Li Chengqian looked at the young man on the other side, and the other party also noticed his gaze.

The young man first stared at the float of the fishing line for a long time, then frowned and shook his head.

Li Chengqian didn't know what the young man was doing when he shook his head. He caught a fish.

Then he saw the other person pick up a stone from the ground. The size of the stone seemed to be unsuitable, so he threw the stone away and picked up another one.

Holding the stone in one position, he used his skill to throw the stone into the river. The stone made a splash in the water. When the water surface calmed down again, a fish was seen floating up.

The black-faced boy threw a few more stones and hit a few more fish.

His technique was very precise, with no missed shots, and he hit the target accurately every time.

Li Chengqian became interested in this young man and watched him for a long time. He waited until the young man hung the fish with a straw rope and carried it on his shoulders up the Laojun Mountain.

"Go and ask where that young man came from."

"Your Majesty, I can bring the person here."

"That's not necessary."

"Here."

The next day, Li Daoyan sent the message.

Li Chengqian drank the fish porridge and said, "Go ahead."

"Your Majesty, the young man who was fishing by the river yesterday lives in Laojun Mountain. A few years ago, this young man came to Luoyang to study and was taken in by Taoist Priest Li on Laojun Mountain. The child loves reading and is always reading. When he is old enough, he will go to teach and take the imperial examination to become an official in the future."

Li Chengqian hesitated and asked, "How did this young man go to Laojun Mountain to study?"

Li Daoyan explained: "This boy finished the teaching course when he was twelve years old. After that, he traveled for three years and wanted to visit famous people or schools in various places. However, he was not good-looking... No one was willing to take him in, so he found Laojun Mountain. Taoist Priest Li saw that this boy had good talent, so he accepted him as his disciple."

"This guy's surname is Zhong. He has had his household registration checked by the Luoyang government. He is from Mount Zhongnan. After he entered Mount Laojun, he often goes down the mountain to help the surrounding villagers solve some troubles. He is also quite famous among the county officials."

Li Chengqian asked: "What's his name?"

"It is rumored that he lives in Laojun Mountain and becomes a disciple of Taoist priest Li Chunfeng. The surrounding villages and counties call him Zhong Kui. As for his original surname and given name, I have sent people to Zhongnan Mountain to inquire."

Li Chengqian put his hands in his pockets, "No need, Zhong Kui? Just call me Zhong Kui, it's fine."

"Here."

During the time he lived at the foot of Laojun Mountain, Li Chengqian would still go fishing by the river and occasionally see Zhong Kui coming down the mountain, which he would do at dawn in the morning and go up at dusk every day.

After ten months, Li Chengqian left Laojun Mountain with a scroll in his hand. The book was recorded by the county officials of various counties in Luoyang. It recorded all the deeds related to Zhong Kui. Most of them were about speaking out for justice, helping the weak, taking care of the elderly, and settling matters between neighbors.

Li Chengqian was quite surprised that this kid could actually solve several cases. The rumors in the community were very good. He was a man with a strong sense of justice and a warm heart, but he had an ugly face and could easily scare people.

After reading the scroll, Li Chengqian handed it to Li Daoyan, who was driving the car, and ordered, "Have someone deliver it to Chongwenguan."

(End of this chapter)