The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 6: Little Daughter Xu Hui
Hearing Ning'er's advice, Li Chengqian put his hands in his pockets and looked at the sky with melancholy, "I will be careful about my words and actions."

Ning Er smiled brightly, "Your Highness, are you still going to continue writing Dream of the Red Chamber today?"

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "Well, let's finish writing Red Mansions first."

The Eastern Palace still needs to continue working hard to improve the quality of life. In fact, there is a better way for Li Chengqian, such as asking his cheap "father".

But if you take the emperor's hand, you have to act according to his mood.

Are the emperor’s things so easy to get?

It's not easy to be the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty.

Ning'er watched His Highness walk back into the palace and pick up a book, which was the Yong Ye chapter of the Analects of Confucius.

Xiaofu ran over and said, "Your Highness, the monks at Shengguang Temple said that bean sprouts have spread throughout Chang'an City. Many families have grown bean sprouts, allowing the people to have an extra bite of vegetables to eat in winter. This is all due to your merit. If you need anything, please let Shengguang Temple know."

Hearing this, Li Chengqian's eyebrows jumped twice, "I am already the crown prince, there is nothing I need."

Ning Er said quickly, "Your Highness, as early as the Wude period, your grandfather said that monks and nuns were idle and idle, changing clothes to avoid rent and taxes, and they did not work and just enjoyed food and clothing."

Li Chengqian suddenly smiled, "I understand. You don't need to send me any news about Shengguang Temple in the future. Since I am the crown prince, Chang'an City and even the whole world should belong to me. What Chang'an City will be like will be decided by me sooner or later. As long as I can secure the position of crown prince, it is only a matter of time. Why do I need the help of these monks?"

Xiaofu's face still had some baby fat. She bowed and said, "Yes."

"Your Highness, Duke Xu wants to see you and is waiting in Chongwen Hall."

"Okay, I understand." Li Chengqian took a deep breath. What is coming will come, and what needs to be faced must be faced.

Ning'er changed the Crown Prince's cloak into a warmer and cleaner one.

Accompanied by the palace maids, Li Chengqian stopped at the gate of the East Palace. In fact, Chongwen Hall is next to the East Palace and is usually used as a place for receiving guests.

Under Ning'er's gaze.

Li Chengqian finally stepped out of the East Palace.

His Highness's steps were very calm, as if walking out of the East Palace was a very natural and simple thing for him.

Gao Shilian had a very special identity. He was not only the uncle of Empress Changsun, but also the Minister of Personnel who held great power in the court. Such a person must be met.

Meeting him is also an opportunity to gain capital in the court.

The Chongwen Hall still looked shabby, with some weeds in front of the gate. Li Chengqian walked into the Chongwen Hall. In addition to Gao Shilian, there were two civil servants wearing light green official uniforms.

Seeing the prince, Gao Shilian stood up and saluted, saying, "Your Highness."

Li Chengqian bowed in return and said, "Greetings, Lord Xu."

Gao Shilian smiled knowingly, motioned for two people to come closer, and said, "This is Yu Zhining, the Minister of the Central Secretariat, and this is the Chief Clerk of the Eastern Palace, who was just appointed by His Majesty Xu Xiaode..."

Listening to Gao Shilian's introduction, Li Chengqian responded with a smile. Yu Zhining was the Minister of the Secretariat and also the Prince's Secretary.

Xu Xiaode had not been an official in Chang'an before, but this time he was reused and appointed as the Chief Clerk of the Eastern Palace.

After they sat down, Yu Zhining and Xu Xiaode saw that the prince looked quite satisfied.

Gao Shilian asked, "I wonder how your Highness is doing these days. I am here to visit you on your Majesty's orders."

Li Chengqian said, sitting cross-legged, "I feel much better. I plan to work out in the future to improve my physical foundation and strengthen my body."

"Yes." Gao Shilian nodded, and then said: "I heard that Your Majesty doted on the King of Yue too much, and I thought that Your Highness was resentful and unwilling to leave the East Palace."

"Grandpa, you are joking. Qingque has always been very sensible and intelligent. I am not as smart as him in terms of cleverness and intelligence. It is natural for my father to dote on me. I am actually very happy that my younger brother is so outstanding."

Gao Shilian stroked his beard and laughed loudly, "Your Highness is so open-minded, it is a blessing for the Tang Dynasty."

Li Chengqian really wanted to say that my coming to the Tang Dynasty was a blessing for the Tang Dynasty, and that I was the best auspicious sign bestowed by God on the Tang Dynasty, although I was no longer myself and Li Chengqian was no longer Li Chengqian.

Yu Zhining spoke at the right time: "I heard that Your Highness had previously agreed to let Zhao Jie join the Right Army of the Eastern Palace and lead the Right Army of the Eastern Palace. Is this true?"

At this point, Li Chengqian stroked his forehead in distress and said, "At that time, it was my aunt who came to plead for me personally. Due to my aunt's feelings, I could only obey in advance, but I never made a clear promise."

Gao Shilian's expression became more serious, and he whispered, "People from the royal family have always entered the government as relatives. I am glad that Your Highness has been alert."

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

Gao Shilian felt very happy when he was called "Uncle and Grandpa".

Speaking of those years, it was the end of the Sui Dynasty and the world was in chaos. At that time, Zhangsun Wuji was still a commoner boy, and Empress Zhangsun was not the current empress. The parents of the brother and sister died early.

It was Gao Shilian who raised them and their siblings, and later they met Li Shimin. Changsun Wuji followed Li Shimin to quell the civil unrest, which led to the current situation.

Even Li Yuan highly valued Gao Shilian.

Gao Shilian deserves to be called uncle by Li Shimin, and also deserves to be called uncle grandpa by Li Chengqian.

"Your Highness, do not worry about Princess Changguang's words. I will help you make Princess Changguang give up. I hope your Highness will make fewer promises to these people in the future."

"I will remember your teachings."

After saying this, Gao Shilian stood up and asked Yu Zhining to talk to Xu Xiaode and the prince, and then he left first.

From the looks of it, he wants to help the Crown Prince to settle the rumors among the royal family.

Because of Zhao Jie's incident, the prince's refusal seemed light.

But Princess Changguang fanned the flames among the royal family and soon made the prince deserted by his friends and relatives.

Princess Changguang is probably like this because she was spoiled by Li Yuan.

The emperor's every word and action easily aroused people's discussion.

The words and deeds of the crown prince also attract people's attention.

Except for the royal family, all the civil officials in the court, whether Fang Xuanling or Wei Zheng, felt that the prince was right to refuse.

Your Highness's character must be improved from an early age. Nepotism will sooner or later lead to disaster.

In the Chongwen Hall, Li Chengqian said to the two people in front of him, "You two, I have lived in the Eastern Palace for a long time and rarely go out. I have never seen the scenery outside. I wonder what the population of Chang'an is now?"

Yu Zhining said quickly: "Your Highness, there are 100,000 households in Chang'an, with a population of approximately 400,000."

After experiencing wars and natural disasters, it was already very good for Chang'an City to have such a population. Including the twelve counties surrounding Chang'an, the population could barely reach one million.

Guanzhong was still depressed, and Chang'an was also depressed.

Now is an important time for the Tang Dynasty to recuperate and build up national strength.

Therefore, the Tang Dynasty’s foreign policy is now carried out under low-cost conditions.

Yu Zhining described the current situation in various parties in the Tang Dynasty.

For example, after Jie Li was defeated, Wen Yanbo and Wei Zheng had a dispute over how to govern the Turks. In the end, Li Shimin chose a lower-cost approach, retaining the customs and habits of the Turks, thereby maintaining local stability.

Li Chengqian said: "We just experienced the Yinshan War. It is difficult for the court to spare manpower and material resources to change the customs of the Turks and educate them. At least the time is not right now, so my father and the ministers in the court chose a lower-cost and more efficient national stability policy." "But this can only temporarily solve the current problem. When we are strong enough in the future, we can deal with it according to the situation. The so-called spending little money to do big things is often the only choice for everyone."

Hearing this, Yu Zhining looked at the prince who was still childish in surprise.

This view directly points out the crux of the national policy.

It has to be said that this prince's understanding of national policy is far beyond that of his peers.

This is much better than Li Tai's cleverness.

Looking at the prince again, his words were calm yet graceful. His conversation did not have the arrogance of a young man, but instead was more humble.

Li Chengqian asked again: "I don't know if what I said is right or not, I hope Minister Yu can correct me."

In fact, what the prince said was very right, even a little too right. Yu Zhining hurriedly said: "Your Highness, it would be better if you don't discuss national policies in the future."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "That's right. If I say too much, it won't be good."

Xu Xiaode was over thirty years old. He stroked his goatee and whispered, "It is rumored that there is a master named Mr. Cao in the East Palace. Is there such a person?"

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "Of course."

Xu Xiaode asked: "Can we meet?"

"Hehehe..." Li Chengqian chuckled, trying to remain calm. He took the bowl of boiled water from Ning'er and explained, "In fact, Mr. Cao is a master with a strange temper. He never sees outsiders or guests. This is what I promised him."

Xu Xiaode sighed and said, "Whatever."

At this time, a young eunuch came quickly. He stood in front of the Chongwen Hall and said in a loud voice: "His Majesty has ordered that a banquet will be held in the Taiji Hall tomorrow. Your Highness is invited to attend the banquet then."

Yu Zhining said: "The court has just closed for the day, and your majesty wants to hold a banquet to entertain the meritorious officials during the day."

It was almost time, Li Chengqian stood up and said goodbye to the two.

The two of them bowed to the prince and said goodbye.

Ning'er had been standing behind His Highness. When the people walked away, she whispered, "Congratulations, Your Highness, for meeting two good ministers today."

Li Chengqian put his hands in his pockets and said with a melancholy look: "It's hard to say whether he is a good minister or not. What I really need is a minister who shares the same ideals as me."

Ning Er asked again: "What if these two people do not agree with your Highness's ideas?"

Li Chengqian walked towards the East Palace and said, "I will train a few ministers who share the same ideas as me, but at the same time I must show myself and let them know that I am someone worth following."

Ning'er followed in the footsteps of His Highness. The current Crown Prince has begun to win followers for himself. It is not surprising to say that the Crown Prince's current actions are all aimed at winning supporters for himself.

Li Chengqian said calmly, "Gold will always shine. This saying is wrong. I prefer to believe that even good wine needs a bush. Gold will always shine. This saying is just a lie made up by people to appease their children's dissatisfaction."

Ning'er's steps were still following those of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and they were even more determined.

The next day, the Eastern Palace sent out three more volumes of the subsequent story of the Dream of the Red Chamber, which continued until Mrs. Wang angrily drove Jin Chuan away, and Jin Chuan could not bear the humiliation and jumped into a well and died.

It also seems like this story resonated with many people.

Princess Changguang's actions caused a lot of discussion among the people.

The Crown Prince's aunt was dissatisfied with the Eastern Palace and spread rumors about the Crown Prince's inconsistency, which soon led to impeachment by court officials.

So much so that Li Shimin had to deal with the princess.

When Li Chengqian learned of this, Zhao Jie had already been incorporated into the Western Army to garrison Liangzhou.

However, this matter was most likely suggested by Gao Shilian's disciples in the court.

There are some things that the prince does not need to do personally. With just a few words, someone will help the prince settle these things, as long as what the prince does is right.

Ning'er prepared clothes for the prince today. He will attend the Taiji Hall evening banquet today, so His Highness should dress up properly.

Li Chengqian looked at himself in the bronze mirror. Until now, he still felt uncomfortable seeing this unfamiliar face. There was nothing he could do about it, because this face was his current self.

Reaching out to take the bronze mirror, Li Chengqian said, "I won't need bronze mirrors in the East Palace anymore."

"Yes." Ning Er agreed, and then said: "I heard that there are many women from powerful families attending the Taiji Palace banquet tonight. Maybe His Majesty and the Queen will choose the future Crown Princess for Your Highness."

Li Chengqian sat upright with his eyes closed, letting them straighten their collars and comb their hair.

So, at dusk, Li Chengqian walked out of the East Palace, and Ning'er followed behind His Highness as usual.

Yu Zhining and Xu Xiaode were waiting outside the Chongwen Hall early.

Li Chengqian noticed that there was a little girl standing timidly behind Xu Xiaode.

Seeing this, he quickly introduced: "Your Highness, please forgive me for laughing. This is my daughter. There is no one to take care of her at home, so I brought her with me to the banquet."

Li Chengqian leaned over to look at the little girl and asked, "What's your name?"

"My daughter Xu Hui greets His Highness."

She saluted stiffly.

Li Chengqian asked again: "How old are you this year?"

"Your Highness, my daughter is eight years old this year." Xu Hui said this and hid behind her father again.

"Your Highness, the time has come. Most of the guests have probably arrived by now."

"Well, let's go."

After listening to Yu Zhining's words, Li Chengqian nodded and lagged behind the two of them half a step, following closely.

Li Chengqian looked at Xu Hui's back.

The little girl seemed to sense the gazes behind her. She held her father's hand and turned back to smile politely at the prince.

Although his smile was forced, it was obvious that he was shy.

When he was about to reach the Taiji Hall, he saw a group of ministers and generals standing in front of the hall.

This is the first time I have walked out of the East Palace and the first time I have to face so many people.

Li Chengqian paused, closed his eyes and hesitated for a moment, then put on a gentle smile and walked towards the crowd.

Xu Xiaode had to deal with many civil officials in the court, so Li Chengqian said, "Ning'er, take good care of Xu Hui."

"Here." Ning'er took Xu Hui's hand and asked her to stand with her.

Li Chengqian explained: "You are my subordinate in the Eastern Palace, and I should also take care of your family."

Xu Xiaode bowed hurriedly and said with a guilty look on his face, "Thank you, Your Highness. I am ashamed to trouble you."

(End of this chapter)