The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 99: The Prince Under Housebound Reflection

In Ganlu Palace, Li Shimin threw the impeachment memorial in his hand heavily to the ground and said, "You are even willing to do this to your uncle!"

Li Chengqian said: "Father, I just want to teach those who are talking about me a lesson."

Li Ji said: "Your Majesty..."

"Shut up!" Li Shimin said angrily.

Li Ji immediately lowered his head and said no more.

Li Shimin took a sip of tea and was trying to regulate his breathing. He looked at his son, who still looked indifferent.

"You beat me up every day. You are so arrogant."

Li Ji said again: "Your Majesty..."

Li Shimin slammed the table in anger and said, "Shut up!"

Li Ji lowered his head again.

Li Chengqian bowed and said, "Father, your Majesty, since your uncle is talking about me like this, it is not excessive for me to give him a beating. But if your Majesty learns of this, what will you do?"

Li Shimin stared at his son and asked sternly, "You still think you're right?"

Li Chengqian said: "The emperor's uncle has been staying in Chang'an for a long time. I have helped my father find a reason to let him return to his fiefdom."

Li Shimin suddenly laughed in anger, "I should thank you for that?"

Seeing that His Majesty's face turned red with anger, the eunuch beside him waved the fan even harder.

But when the fire met the wind, it seemed to grow bigger and bigger.

Li Shimin shouted: "No need to fan!"

"Yes." The eunuch hurriedly put down the fan.

Li Chengqian said: "It's just that if it affects my son's marriage, my father will be unhappy, and I will be even more unhappy."

It was really hard to refute for a moment, Li Shimin slammed the table and said, "Get lost!"

"Yes!" Li Ji immediately turned around and was about to leave. Seeing that the prince was still standing there, he tugged hard at the corner of his prince's clothes.

Li Chengqian then reluctantly moved away.

It was very quiet in the Ganlu Hall.

Several eunuchs stood with their heads down and their hands hanging, listening to the Majesty's breathing and sweating profusely.

Li Shimin said: "Bring Li Yuanchang to me."

"Here."

At night, Li Chengqian returned to the East Palace as if nothing had happened.

That night, the news quickly came out of the palace. The Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace was confined to his home for half a month, General Li Ji was fined for half a year, and Li Yuanchang was sent back to his fiefdom and was not allowed to return to Chang'an without an imperial decree.

Li Chengqian was sitting in the bedroom and marking homework for his younger brothers and sisters.

Noticing Ning'er's gaze, he smiled and said, "You don't have to worry about me."

Ning'er whispered, "Did Your Highness go too far?"

Li Chengqian sighed, "I was young and frivolous, and I didn't like to reason with others, so I let them do it."

"Your Highness is not a frivolous person."

Li Chengqian put down the pen in his hand, drank tea, looked at the night outside the window, and said: "No matter whether he spread my temperament or not, as my uncle, he shouldn't exaggerate. I didn't expect that he would hold a grudge for so long because he was rejected when he came to the East Palace to meet me."

Ning'er stood aside and lit the candle on the candlestick.

The candlelight shone on the prince's face, and she leaned over and said, "This time, you should bear a grudge even more."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "He is just a sinister villain, not worth mentioning."

Ning Er said, "Your Highness is able to be alert, so I am relieved."

Li Chengqian smiled without saying anything, looking towards the palace shrouded in darkness. He could see some lights on in the dark palace.

He added: "So what if I am a villain? The people around me are the most trustworthy, and that is enough."

Ning'er smiled gently, stood behind His Highness, and remained silent.

Occasionally, there were some noises of playing outside the hall. Those were the younger brothers and sisters walking by. At this time, they all went back to their rooms to rest.

The next day, Li Yuanchang was beaten by the prince's men and scolded by His Majesty, and was frightened out of his wits.

When he was escorted out of the city, he looked back at Chang'an City. His Majesty would not tolerate him, and now the prince would not tolerate him either.

Neither the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty nor the future emperor will tolerate him.

Li Yuanchang fled Chang'an as if he was escaping for his life.

As the prince's uncle, he should have defended the prince instead of adding fuel to the fire.

The prince was wrong to order someone to beat someone in the street, but it was also Li Yuanchang's fault.

Your Majesty has always been fair. The Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace was confined to reflect on his actions, and Li Yuanchang was sent back to his fiefdom. The matter was thus over.

Li Shimin was very melancholy as he was preparing to go to court.

Empress Chang Sun asked, "Your Majesty, have you caught Cheng Qian by the tail now?"

Li Shimin snorted coldly: "He caused trouble, and I still want to thank him for helping me drive Li Yuanchang back."

Empress Zhangsun helped His Majesty to tidy up her clothes and said, "Your Majesty has always been helpless against Cheng Qian, but now you can finally scold this son."

After tidying up his clothes, His Majesty went to court in high spirits.

At this time, little Sizi had also woken up. Empress Changsun still had to take care of her little daughter's breakfast. While taking care of her, the empress whispered, "Sizi, your father is angry, and your brother is also angry. Sooner or later, they will quarrel."

Little Sizi took a wooden spoon, put millet porridge into his mouth, and grinned happily.

It seemed like this was something very funny to her.

Today is Xu Xiaode's first day as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works. As soon as the Ministry of Personnel issued the document, he will come to the Ministry of Works to take up his post.

On his first day at the Ministry of Works, Xu Xiaode had to face a major event: to build a villa for His Majesty beside the Taiye Lake, on the site of the Jianzhang Palace during the Han Dynasty.

Originally, this matter was proposed by the Crown Prince to His Majesty, and His Majesty agreed. Then the regulations for this matter were drawn up in the Secretariat.

What makes Xu Xiaode difficult is that this kind of thing requires a budget.

It is difficult to make such a budget, and Xu Xiaode has no choice but to go to the East Palace to find the prince and ask him to help make a budget.

As soon as he walked outside the Chongwen Hall, Xu Xiaode saw the Jinwu Guards surrounding there.

Li Daoyan stopped him outside the East Palace and said, "Your Majesty has ordered that during the period of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's confinement for self-reflection, no one is allowed to visit him."

Xu Xiaode held the document in his hand and said, "I am here to ask Your Highness to approve the document."

Li Daoyan said with a straight face: "Your Majesty has ordered that it is not possible."

"This……"

Xu Xiaode was in a dilemma.

Soon, Li Baiyao, the Minister of Rites, also arrived. "General, the Ministry of Rites has a document that requires the Crown Prince's approval of the expenditure."

Li Daoyan still had a stern face and said, "No! His Majesty has ordered..."

Li Baiyao said with a straight face: "The Crown Prince is in charge of all the expenses in the court. If the Crown Prince is not reflecting on himself for a day, the expenses in the court will be in chaos. What should we do?"

Li Daoyan said: "I am just following orders, you can go and ask His Majesty."

The two of them had to rush to find a house.

When Fang Xuanling came back from invigilating today's imperial examination, there were already quite a few people standing in the Secretariat. Before Fang Xiang could even reach the Secretariat, Cen Wenben hurried over and stopped Fang Xiang, saying, "Why don't we ask His Majesty to lift the Crown Prince's house arrest?"

Fang Xuanling whispered, "What happened to the various departments?"

Cen Wenben said: "The Ministry of Works will build a garden for your majesty at the Taiye Lake, the Ministry of Rites will host the Grain Rain Festival, the Ministry of War will build funds for the Tuyuhun Protectorate, and once the results of the imperial examination are announced, the Ministry of Personnel will also make official uniforms for the new officials. These things have not yet been settled."

Fang Xuanling glanced at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and decided not to go back. He grabbed Cen Wenben and said, "Come with me to see His Majesty."

"Okay." Cen Wenben hurriedly followed.

The morning court had just ended when Fang Xuanling and Cen Wenben hurried to the outside of the Wude Hall.

But then he heard His Majesty in the palace say loudly: "Without the Crown Prince of the East Palace, can these things not be done?"

Fang Xuanling heard the noise before he entered the palace, so he asked the eunuch beside him, "What happened?"

The old eunuch replied, "Prime Minister Fang, you don't know. After the morning court session, the Duke of Zhao came to see Your Majesty."

Fang Xuanling signaled Cen Wenben not to act rashly and just wait outside the hall.

I only heard a few more curses from His Majesty coming from the Wude Hall.

Afterwards, Changsun Wuji came out in a hurry.

Fang Xuanling stepped forward and said, "Auxiliary machine."

Changsun Wuji walked hurriedly towards Chengtian Gate and explained what was said in the hall to the two people in front of him.

Cen Wenben was so anxious that he waved his sleeves and clapped his hands, saying, "What should I do?"

Fang Xuanling said worriedly, "The court can provide some support for the time being, and when the crown prince's confinement is over, let His Royal Highness make arrangements."

Cen Wenben added: "But the construction of the Taiye Lake villa cannot be delayed. If we don't start now, summer will come in June."

Zhang Sun Wuji said: "Your Majesty is still angry. It is useless for us to persuade him now. It is better to transfer some funds to the Ministry of Works first."

"The Ministry of War's affairs cannot be delayed either."

Fang Xuanling said discouragedly: "We can arrange as much as we can."

In the Secretariat, everyone was still discussing what to do next when His Majesty sent another decree, "Your Majesty has ordered that Chu Suiliang will temporarily take charge of the allocation of money and grain in the court, with Yu Zhining and Xu Xiaode assisting him."

After reading it, Chu Suiliang quickly stood up and saluted, saying, "I accept your order."

So, all the expenditure memorials from civil and military officials in the court were placed in front of Chu Suiliang.

The sudden appointment made Chu Suiliang a little dazed. When everyone sat down again, the table in front of him was already piled with things.

He picked up one at random and looked at it carefully.

He picked up another copy and called Yu Zhining and Xu Xiaode to compare them together.

Chu Suiliang had never taken care of any accounts before. It was the first time he took on such a job and his scalp was numb. The prices of each account were all in front of him. The Ministry of Works had 3,000 strings of cash, the Ministry of War had 300 strings of cash, of which 1,000 strings of cash were in the Ministry of Works. The Ministry of Works also had to give 500 strings of cash to the Chief of Works to make armor...

Chu Suiliang felt overwhelmed when looking at the complicated account transactions.

He couldn't help but take a deep breath, wiped the sweat off his sleeves, and asked, "How did the prince arrange it in the past?"

Yu Zhining replied, "I don't know either. I just wrote down the amount after your Highness approved it and I handed it over on your behalf."

Xu Xiaode said: "It is said that His Royal Highness is very good at mathematics, and that His Royal Highness has learned more complicated application problems before."

Chu Suiliang looked a little confused and asked, "What's the question?"

Xu Xiaode hesitated and said, "I don't understand either."

In the East Palace, Li Chengqian was watching his two younger brothers do their homework. "I will watch you do the homework now. If you still can't figure it out, go to Ganlu Palace and let your father and mother watch you do the homework. If you still can't figure it out, go to Lizheng Palace and let your father and mother watch you do the homework together."

Li Zhi had a bitter face and kept scratching his head.

Li Shen felt so wronged that he almost cried, sniffing his nose, and hadn't solved the problem yet.

I have taught two mixed operations of four arithmetic operations several times, but I still can’t grasp the key points.

Li Chengqian covered his face with a palm-leaf fan and lay down on the recliner, intending to sleep for an hour.

While the emperor's elder brother was asleep, Princess Dongyang, the elder sister of the two younger brothers, quietly gave them the answer, and they were able to get away with it.

Li Lizhi saw all these things. It was not a big deal that Zhinu and Shen'er had poor grades. As long as the brothers and sisters were united, this little thing was nothing.

Dongyang came to Princess Changle and helped to dry the books.

Li Lizhi whispered, "Are they still crying?"

Dongyang said: "Don't cry anymore."

Li Lizhi said, "In fact, my brother is not a very strict person. It's okay once or twice. What makes my brother most angry is that he won't teach me a lesson no matter how many times he tries."

On the fifth day of the imperial examination, Li Shimin walked along the edge of Taiye Lake. Since he was not going to Jiucheng Palace, it was nice to escape the summer heat here.

Not far away is the former site of Jianzhang Palace, where the emperors of the Han Dynasty used to escape the summer heat.

Seeing that the construction had not started yet, Li Shimin asked, "Why hasn't the construction started yet?"

The old eunuch replied, "I heard that the Minister of Works Yan Liben handed the matter over to the Vice Minister of Works Xu Xiaode to arrange."

Li Shimin nodded and said, "I know him, the chief historian of the Eastern Palace."

Seeing that His Majesty was in a good mood today, the old eunuch smiled and said, "That's right."

"Isn't he going to start work yet?"

"I've had someone ask about this, and they said that Minister Chu hasn't settled the accounts yet, so the Ministry of Works can't start work until now."

After saying this, the eunuch lowered his head, waiting for His Majesty to get angry.

But before His Majesty could get angry, Li Shimin looked calm, stroked his beard and said gently: "He has just taken over so many things, I think he is exhausted now, I can't make things difficult for him."

The old eunuch breathed a sigh of relief and nodded with a smile.

These days are so difficult, your Majesty is so moody.

The construction of the summer villa had not yet started, so the emperor had no mood to take a walk here.

In the Eastern Palace, Li Chengqian called Li Daoyan and they roasted a duck together in the Eastern Palace.

There are many children here, who are at the age when they can eat the most, so five ducks are roasted together.

For the prince, these days of house arrest were no different from holidays. He would sleep until he woke up naturally and take a nap at noon. When he had nothing to do, he would start thinking about what to eat next.

Li Chengqian was wearing a single layer of clothing with his sleeves rolled up to his shoulders. He and Li Daoyan flipped the stick in their hands, and the roast duck on the rack also flipped over to ensure even heating.

"Brother Daoyan, do you usually eat roast duck?"

Li Daoyan quickly said: "I am on duty and cannot eat."

Li Yuan sat aside and whispered: "Still on duty, whose soldiers are on duty? They are on duty to come to the East Palace and roast duck with the prince."

Li Daoyan was silent for a moment.

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "Brother Daoyan, don't worry. I am on duty outside the East Palace, and I am also on duty inside the East Palace."

"Thank you, Your Highness, for your understanding."

Li Chengqian took a sip of cold water and handed the kettle to him.

Li Daoyan wiped the sweat off his face, took the kettle and took several gulps.

The sun was shining brightly at noon, and the two people sitting by the fire were sweating profusely, with sweat soaking their front and back.

Li Zhi swallowed his saliva and raised his head and said, "Brother, can I eat now?"

Li Chengqian said, "When Xiaofu's rice is ready, my roast duck will be ready too."

(End of this chapter)