My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 71 Wu Zhao's Little Thoughts

In the East Palace.

Cui Fengzhu changed into new clothes and moved into the big house allocated by the prince.

The fatigue of many days seemed to disappear in an instant, and she was full of expectations for the future.

Wu Ziqing also passed the examination successfully and was granted an official position in the Eastern Palace.

Although he was only a proofreader in the Sijing Bureau, an official position below the ninth rank, he still had an official position and salary.

The next day, a letter arrived in Cui Fengzhu's hands.

Although there was no signature, Cui Fengzhu knew at a glance that it was written to her by her father.

The letter told her and Wu Ziqing to be careful because the family would do something bad to them.

"Wu Lang, what should we do? The family still won't let us go."

"Even though we have already arrived at the East Palace, they will still try their best to get rid of us."

Wu Ziqing comforted him, "The Eastern Palace is heavily guarded, they won't succeed that easily."

"But I'm afraid, Wu Lang. You know that."

Cui Fengzhu curled up in Wu Ziqing's arms, her face full of worry: "The power of our family should not be underestimated even in Chang'an City. My father wrote to me and told me so."

"Then the family will definitely arrange assassins. Even if we are in the East Palace."

Wu Ziqing also knew the power of the Qinghe Cui family. After much hesitation, he decided to report the matter to the prince.

Li Chengqian didn't expect such a surprise.

It is obvious that Cui Fengzhu's father can't bear to part with his daughter.

The two also talked about the help their father had given them in the past.

"In that case, please invite him to the East Palace for a chat."

Li Chengqian immediately arranged for someone to go directly to Cui Mansion to call Cui Guangrui over.

Although they are from the Qinghe Cui family, they dare not disobey the prince in person in Chang'an.

More than a dozen Eastern Palace cavalrymen arrived at Cui Mansion, and Cui Wensheng could not refuse.

Cui Guangrui was brought over soon.

"Father."

Cui Fengzhu, with tears in her eyes, threw herself into Cui Guangrui's arms.

"Fengzhu, you have suffered so much these days."

Cui Guangrui burst into tears. He had only one daughter, who had been the apple of his eye since childhood. How could she have suffered so much?

The clan wanted to kill his daughter. He was extremely sad these days and could not bear to do it.

After a warm moment, the father and daughter separated.

"Meet His Highness the Crown Prince."

Cui Guangrui bowed and saluted.

Li Chengqian asked directly: "Qinghe Cui wants to assassinate Gu Donggong. Is this true?"

Cui Guangrui hesitated a bit, but seeing his daughter's encouraging look, he nodded and said, "It is true. The clan doesn't want my daughter to marry someone from another family and break the marriage between the five families, so they want to kill my daughter."

"I couldn't bear to see my daughter killed, so I wrote to tell her."

Li Chengqian chuckled and said, "Qinghe Cui is so bold that she even dared to kill someone in my East Palace."

"Will you dare to assassinate me one day?"

After all, Cui Guangrui was a member of the Cui family, and he was immediately trembling with fear when he heard this.

Li Chengqian said: "Gu Liang and his men don't have the guts to do that, but you know something about how they plan to assassinate me."

At this point, Cui Guangrui had no choice but to give up for the sake of his daughter.

"This matter is handled by Cui Wensheng of our clan. He is the person in charge of our Qinghe Cui clan in Chang'an. I don't know about this."

After a slight hesitation, Cui Guangrui continued, "I was in the palace recently and happened to hear him talking about cooperating with the King of Wei. He should have made some arrangements for your Highness's ice-making method."

Li Chengqian was not surprised by this. There were many people who wanted to learn his ice-making method. Even His Majesty might have had this little thought, not to mention the King of Wei and the aristocratic families.

However, Cui Guangrui's next sentence is very crucial.

"I heard them talking about winter hunting, and I thought they might take advantage of your Highness's winter hunting to make a move."

Li Chengqian nodded. Indeed, it would be a good opportunity to steal the ice-making method while he was participating in the winter hunt.

Maybe it will really work.

"Next, do you want to go back to Cui Mansion? Why don't you stay in my East Palace?"

Cui Guangrui was a little hesitant.

Although he was reluctant to leave his daughter, he didn't want to betray his family.

But at this point, it doesn't seem much different from betrayal.

"Father, please stay."

"If the family investigates, they will surely find out what father did. How can father stay in the family then? The family rules will cost him his life."

Faced with his daughter's persuasion, Cui Guangrui was somewhat shaken.

Wu Ziqing beside him also interrupted and said, "Uncle, Fengzhu will feel at ease only if you stay."

Cui Guangrui actually had no prejudice against Wu Ziqing, otherwise he would not have helped this star-crossed couple again and again.

After being persuaded by the two, Cui Guangrui, who was reluctant to leave his daughter, decided to stay in the Eastern Palace.

His wife died early, leaving him with only one daughter. Although she was the direct descendant of the clan, her life in the clan was not satisfactory.

Without children, many members of the clan feel that their entire family will be wiped out.

If not for this, Cui Guangrui would not have been so indulgent to his daughter.

"I am still short of a councillor in the Zuo Chun Fang of the Eastern Palace."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Faced with the olive branch extended by the prince, Cui Guangrui accepted it without hesitation.

Li Chengqian was very satisfied.

It is politically correct to strike against the Cui family of Qinghe. Although this may make the Five Surnames and Seven Families more supportive of the King of Wei, at the same time Li Chengqian will also be valued by the Guanlong clans.

Li Chengqian currently needs this support so that he can compete with Your Majesty for the right to lead the army to attack Goryeo.

The news reached Taiji Palace.

Li Shimin, who was handling government affairs, was very happy.

He has always been full of resentment towards the Qinghe Cui family, ever since he compiled the clan history.

There were also the five surnames and seven families who looked down upon the Li family of the Tang Dynasty.

The prince's behavior made him feel very satisfied.

"Find the nearest auspicious day and tell the Crown Prince that I will personally grant the marriage."

Li Shimin instructed Zhang Ananda.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Li Shimin thought for a moment and said, "Winter hunting is coming soon, so I'll go to Wu Cairen to see how my horses are doing."

Li Shimin's harem was still very large.

According to the system, there were four concubines, nine imperial concubines, twenty-seven ladies in the family, and eighty-one imperial wives.

There are also corresponding ranks, from four concubines to eighty-one imperial wives, from the first rank to the eighth rank.

Cairen was at the bottom of the 27 generations of ladies and belonged to the fifth rank.

Wu Zhao's daily duties in the Taiji Palace were to raise horses for His Majesty.

The prosperity of the horse breeding industry in the Sui and Tang dynasties directly benefited from the tradition of attaching importance to animal husbandry inherited from the Northern Wei Dynasty.

The Northern Wei Dynasty was a dynasty established by the nomadic Xianbei tribe, and the scale of livestock raised was quite large.

It is said that it once had more than two million horses, which was a peak of cavalry before the rise of the Sui and Tang cavalry.

After the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, the horse policy continued to be strengthened, and horses were widely recruited from the public to participate in military operations.

When Emperor Yang of Sui went on an expedition to Goguryeo, he was known as the King of a Million, of which there were more than 500,000 cavalry.

Li Shimin also attached great importance to horse management. The fact that he was honored as the Heavenly Khan was largely due to the contribution of the Tang Dynasty cavalry.

At the Forbidden Garden Horse Farm, Wu Zhao looked at the Six Horses of Zhaoling Mausoleum in front of her with her eyes flickering.

(End of this chapter)