Li Chengqian of the Tang Dynasty: Please say long live His Majesty

Chapter 10 Emperor Taizong is the most shameless

In the Taiji Hall square, Li Chengqian's calm gaze passed over Li Tai, Yan Liben, Du Chuke, and even more courtiers, landing on the Taiji Hall entrance further back. He whispered, "Qingque, didn't you see that Prime Minister Wei went back to see our father?"

Li Tai's face suddenly changed and he turned around in an instant. Among the ministers behind him, there was no sign of Wei Zheng.

Wei Zheng, after Li Chengqian broke his leg, although he never went to the Eastern Palace once, he kept stopping the ministers from discussing the matter of the crown prince.

Although they cannot be controlled in private, no one dares to say a word in public.

Anyone who offended would be immediately expelled from the court by Wei Zheng.

Wei Zheng even wrote a letter to the emperor personally. Although it had no effect, his attitude was there.

Therefore, the entire court was still peaceful on the surface.

Although the court has been dismissed and etiquette requirements are not so important, Li Tai will be impeached by Wei Zheng immediately if he does anything wrong.

Who asked him to seek the throne?

The corners of Li Tai's mouth twitched slightly. He turned to look at Li Chengqian, forcing a smile on his face as he said, "Qingque is just concerned about my brother's injury. There's no other intention."

"No, Qingque, you've completely forgotten what the emperor told you to do before, asking you to support your brother!" Li Chengqian sighed softly and shook his head. "The emperor also told you to help your brother and share some of the burdens. You may not have taken it to heart, but I remember it all... Chief Secretary, pass on the order. In three days, the Eastern Palace will resume normal operations."

"Yes!" Yu Zhining bowed solemnly.

"Three days from now, invite all the scholars to give lectures in the Eastern Palace. Send a letter to the Secretariat to transfer any official documents that require the Eastern Palace's handling. Send someone to the Chancellery to ask anyone who has any objections to the matter to come to the Eastern Palace." Li Chengqian said this lightly, and all the ministers around him bowed solemnly and said, "Yes!"

The Eastern Palace handles affairs, teaches, governs, and hears complaints.

Especially listening to the complaints is even more painful.

The lecturers were only a few concubines of the Eastern Palace, scholars from the Chongwen Academy and the Hongwen Academy, as well as the Prince's Secretary and Junior Secretary, who taught the Prince and explained the art of studying.

In terms of government affairs, the Secretariat would send a small number of selected official documents to the Eastern Palace, where they would be handled by the Crown Prince and a dozen Eastern Palace officials to learn how to govern in the future.

None of these matters. What is truly important, even life-threatening, is the last one: hearing the complaint.

In the tenth year of the Zhenguan reign, the emperor issued an edict: From now on, if there is any lawsuit and the decision of the Secretariat is not accepted, it should be reported to the Eastern Palace for the Crown Prince to make the final decision. If the decision is still not accepted, it should be reported to me.

There are three provinces, six ministries, nine temples, five bureaus, the Censorate, twelve guards, three hundred and sixty states, and one thousand five hundred and fifty-seven counties in the world. There are countless frictions and conflicts every day.

Generally speaking, matters that can be handled locally will not be reported to Chang'an.

Anything that can be handled internally by the six ministries, nine temples, five bureaus, the Censorate, and the twelve guards will never be brought to the Ministry of Chancellery.

Anything that the Secretariat can handle will never fall into the hands of the Crown Prince.

Generally speaking, any lawsuit that really falls into the hands of the prince is definitely not a trivial matter.

Some are really troublesome, while others may be life-threatening.

Every official will inevitably be impeached.

If it is handled among the three provinces and six ministries, it will not be a problem, but if it falls into the hands of the prince, it means that the prince has the power to deal with them.

The three sons of the Eastern Palace, the left, middle and right concubines, the Eastern Palace Chancellor, the Junior Chancellor, the Middle Sheren, the Sheren, and countless ministers, if they really start to move, the entire court will become tense.

With this imperial edict, the prince will have the power to supervise all officials, and the real power of the Eastern Palace will be rampant in the court.

This is the real power granted to the prince by the emperor.

Li Chengqian was bedridden for more than half a year, and what he did most was reflection.

He clearly had better political means to keep his position, but he chose to use the worst.

He was the crown prince, and his father, Emperor Taizong, was the most proud person.

As long as he doesn't make mistakes and acts prudently, his father, the emperor, will never forcibly depose him.

Otherwise, history books will criticize it...

……

Li Chengqian looked at Li Tai and said softly, "Qingque, I heard that you often act ostentatiously and harass the people for no reason. After returning home, you behave erratically and beat and scold servants at will. You have to be careful. If you kill someone, it will be troublesome." Li Tai's face suddenly changed, and he looked at Li Chengqian with horror in his eyes.

If the harassment of the people mentioned above was information that anyone with a keen eye could gather, then the wanton beating and scolding of servants, and even the killing of them, was a deeply hidden secret of the Prince of Wei's Palace.

Li Tai suddenly realized that his royal brother had planted people in his house.

"Royal brother..." Li Tai wanted to say something, but no words came out. At this moment, Du Chuke took a half step forward and bowed to Li Chengqian, saying, "Your Highness, the Crown Prince is very correct. The Prince of Wei is busy compiling books every day. After closing the door, he is inevitably a little indulgent. I am sorry that this has caused Your Highness to worry about him."

Li Chengqian looked at Du Chuke with a half-smile and said, "As Qingque's older brother, I still have to take care of Qingque's private affairs. However, normally, unless someone is causing trouble and complains privately, I won't know anything about it."

Yu Zhining took a half step forward and bowed to Li Tai, saying, "The Crown Prince is the eldest of the princes. It is his duty to discipline the behavior of his brothers."

"Qingque has taken note of your teachings, my royal brother." Li Tai kowtowed heavily, and the moment he leaned forward, his eyes were filled with resentment.

It seems that his house needs to be cleaned up.

Li Chengqian looked at Li Tai calmly, a hint of amusement flashing in his eyes. The Prince of Wei's Mansion really needed some excitement. If it wasn't, people would be in panic. How could he intervene...

"Your Highness!" A soft voice sounded from the side, interrupting Li Chengqian's thoughts.

Li Chengqian turned around and saw a eunuch in blue standing beside him.

The eunuch in blue bowed solemnly to Li Chengqian and said, "Your Highness, His Majesty has summoned you."

Li Chengqian turned and looked towards the Taiji Hall, then bowed and said, "I accept your command."

……

After standing up, Li Chengqian looked at Yu Zhining and said, "Chief Secretary, let's prepare for the affairs of the Eastern Palace first. Teaching, handling government affairs, and hearing complaints should be arranged in order."

"Yes!" Yu Zhining bowed solemnly.

Everything in the Eastern Palace is returning to normal.

Li Chengqian looked at Li Tai calmly, then his gaze fell on Lu Dongzan behind him. His gaze turned slightly and he went towards the Liangyi Hall behind the Taiji Hall.

He was still walking slowly, but his dignified manner made the officials around him bow and make way for him, standing in awe.

Seeing Li Chengqian leaving, Li Tai couldn't help but clench his fists. Why was he so scared just now?

"Your Highness." Yan Liben's voice sounded from the side. Li Tai turned around subconsciously and saw Yan Liben winking at him. Then he said solemnly: "Your Highness, it's time to go back."

Li Tai subconsciously wanted to say something, but then he calmed down and said with a folded hand, "Uncle, what you said is absolutely right. It's time for me to go back."

After saying that, Li Tai glanced at Yu Zhining sideways, bowed, and then turned and left.

No matter what, Yu Zhining was his teacher when he was a child, so Li Tai was able to respect his teacher.

Yu Zhining bowed in return and sighed in his heart. After all, the prince is the crown prince and cannot be coveted by the prince!

……

In front of the Liangyi Hall, Li Chengqian straightened his clothes slightly, then walked up the stairs calmly and slowly. By the end, his face was already tense.

As he walked into the Taiji Hall, Li Shimin, dressed in a black robe with golden threads, was already sitting on the imperial couch, holding a memorial in his hand, while Wei Zheng was nowhere to be seen.

Li Chengqian walked into the hall, then bowed respectfully and said, "Your Majesty, your son greets you."

"Chengqian." Li Shimin put down the memorial slightly, looked up at Li Chengqian, his eyes fell on his left leg, and then asked solemnly: "Chengqian, how is your injury? What happened today?"

Li Chengqian's face suddenly became solemn. He knew that although he had used some clever means in today's court meeting, these means could not be hidden from his father at all.

No one knows how many spies the emperor has inside and outside the Eastern Palace. Perhaps he didn't care much about it before, but Li Chengqian made such a big splash in the Taiji Hall today, so the emperor naturally wanted to find out.

Facing the emperor's suspicious gaze, Li Chengqian bowed and said, "My son's injuries are not bad. As for today, I used some tricks. Your Majesty, please take a look."

As he spoke, Li Chengqian untied his robe in front of Li Shimin...

(End of this chapter)