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

Chapter 179: The Cave of Schemes: The Broken Buddha Statue, Unlucky Li Tai (Part )

In early April, it was rainy and foggy.

Tai Chi Palace, Wude Palace.

Li Chengqian was lying on the bed with his left leg hanging in the air. Although the pain had increased, according to Sun Simiao, this method could speed up the healing of his left leg. However, even Sun Simiao couldn't say how much faster it could be.

But that's enough.

Li Chengqian knew in his heart that Li Tai would never let him recover like this.

Before he recovers, Li Tai will definitely try every possible way to do something to him.

Especially next year.

Once Li Tai realizes that he cannot succeed through secret means, he will become anxious.

In fact, when Li Tai had plans against Li Chengqian, Li Chengqian also had plans against Li Tai.

What he has been doing all along is to peel off Li Tai's wings bit by bit.

This was the case with Du Chuke, Fang Yiai, and Su Xu, and it will be inevitable that other people in the Prince of Wei's Palace will be like this in the future.

Once he is really abandoned by everyone, Li Tai will have only one choice.

Li Chengqian didn't want to wait until Li Tai led his troops into the palace while he was still lying on his sickbed or unable to move.

That would be fatal.

Therefore, he must use all means to recover as quickly as possible.

When Li Tai thought he had caught him off guard, he turned around and caught Li Tai off guard.

This is what he wants to see most.

Li Chengqian's expression hardened slightly, but disappeared in an instant.

Li Qin sat in the hall, lowering his head to organize medical records and taking care of Li Chengqian.

Several other young medical officers were busy pounding medicine or decocting medicine. Li Chengqian needed to take a lot of medicine if he wanted his leg to recover.

With a creaky sound, the palace door opened.

Su Shu walked into the hall, and Li Anyan followed behind with a food box.

Li Qin and the other doctors in the palace immediately stood up and bowed, saying, "Greetings to the Crown Princess."

"Everyone, please continue." Su Shu nodded gently, then walked to the bed in the inner hall. Looking at Li Chengqian lying on it, she asked with concern, "How do you feel today, Your Highness?"

"I'm fine." Li Chengqian nodded and asked, "How is things in the palace?"

"Everything is fine." Su Shu sat down, took the lunch box from Li Anyan's hand, and took out the cooked bone soup. At the same time, she said, "There's nothing else wrong, it's just that Yiniang has been in a bad mood these days."

"Since Yiniang entered the Eastern Palace at the beginning of the year, she has never gone out. Now she stays in the palace. It is understandable that she is in a bad mood." Li Chengqian nodded slightly, with a hint of guilt in his eyes. Because of him, they calculated that Su Yi was forced to marry into the Eastern Palace and become his prince's concubine. She might not be able to accept it.

"But I think the reason Yiniang is unhappy is that everyone else who entered the Eastern Palace was formally carried in a sedan chair with eight bearers, but she was the only one who became the Crown Prince's concubine when she moved into the Eastern Palace. There were no other ceremonies, so she is unhappy." Su Shu held the bowl, looked at Li Chengqian, and said, "Your Highness, please make up for it sometime."

"Yes!" Li Chengqian nodded slightly, then said, "Wait until I return to the East Palace, my beloved concubine, please make some preparations."

"Okay!" Su Shu picked up the bowl and fed Li Chengqian the soup spoonful by spoonful.

Only after she finished all this did she hand the bowl to Li Anyan.

Li Chengqian also looked at Li Anyan and asked, "An Yan, how is the situation in Luoyang?"

Li Anyan bowed and said, "Your Majesty, when you arrived in Luoyang, you first went to Songshan. In a few days, you may go to Longmen. It is said that all the nobles in Luoyang will go to attend the unveiling ceremony of the Longmen Buddha shrine. I heard that even several of the great monks from the White Horse Temple will go..."

Li Anyan couldn't help but look at Li Chengqian. Both of them showed a mysterious and smug smile on their faces, but it disappeared in a flash.

Su Shu sat to one side and said, "The Longmen Buddha shrine was carved to pray for the Queen Mother's afterlife. Your Highness, should we send someone over there?"

"No need." Li Chengqian shook his head and said, "Du He is over there. He and Cheng Yang will go too. Just write a letter and ask him to prepare an extra gift."

"Yes!" Li Anyan immediately bowed.

Li Chengqian's expression turned serious, and he asked, "How are the ministers of the Eastern Palace doing lately?"

"Your Highness, everything is going smoothly." After a brief pause, Li Anyan said, "Everyone has become much more proactive in their interactions and work after learning that Your Highness's leg illness has fully recovered."

"That's good." Li Chengqian breathed a sigh of relief.

He is the crown prince, and every official in the Eastern Palace has a distinguished background, and each of them even has a huge family behind him.

I won't mention Changsun Xiang and Dugu Dabao, but the others: Xiao Jun is Xiao Yu's nephew, Pei Xuanji is Pei Ju's son, Yu Chang is Yu Shinan's son, Qin Huaidao is Qin Qiong's son, Liu Renshi is Liu Hongji's son...

There are also many other officials who left the Eastern Palace, and they also have powerful backing.

Li Dejian was the son of Li Jing; Liu Yingdao was the son of Liu Linfu, whose younger brother was Liu Xiangdao...

There are also Li Gang, Wang Gui, and other old ministers whose families are closely related to Li Chengqian.

Fang Xuanling was the Prince's Junior Tutor, Gao Shilian was the Prince's Junior Preceptor, not to mention Du He, Zhao Jie, Wang Jingzhi, and Li Yuanchang.

Li Chengqian's Eastern Palace is also very powerful.

It was just that after he broke his leg and became lame last time, everything happened so quickly. Li Tai won the emperor's favor in a very short time and began to challenge the position of crown prince.

The families that had contact with the officials of the Eastern Palace began to hesitate because of the emperor's attitude, forcing Li Chengqian to personally fight with Li Tai.

Now, after Li Chengqian's leg injury has fully recovered, it will be completely cured and he will no longer be lame.

In this year's struggle, Li Tai was completely at a disadvantage.

The emperor favored Li Chengqian again.

At this time, the families behind the officials of the Eastern Palace immediately began to move closer to the Eastern Palace again, and Li Chengqian's influence in the court instantly returned to the level that a prince should have.

If Li Tai challenged him again at this time, he would not only have to face Li Chengqian, but also countless officials inside and outside the Eastern Palace, as well as the counterattacks from the families behind them.

Especially now that Li Chengqian's leg has not yet fully recovered, helping Li Chengqian at this time will mean little effort and great benefits.

Li Chengqian looked serious and said to Li Anyan, "We don't need to worry too much about what's happening in Luoyang. We should focus on the editors of the Southern History and Northern History, the crossbows in the Chongwenguan, and the Sinong Temple. I heard someone offered a method for fertilizing..."

……

Luoyang, Longmen Grottoes.

A statue of Amitabha Buddha with a solemn appearance and exquisite clothes sits on a stone platform, with several Buddha statues standing on both sides, bowing and serving.

Li Shimin stood in the grotto, bowing solemnly.
On the walls on both sides, the carvings of the emperor and empress worshiping Buddha from the Northern Wei Dynasty attract silent attention.

Li Tai stood at the entrance of the cave, standing side by side with Changsun Wuji.

Dozens of other people including Fang Xuanling, Yang Shidao, Li Zhi, Tang Jian, Li Daozon, Jinyang, Gaoyang, Chengyang, Du He, Chai Lingwu, etc. stood outside the grottoes.

Du He glanced at everyone, then looked into the cave. His expression was calm, but a hint of sneer flashed in his heart.

In order to pray for Empress Wende's afterlife, Li Tai carved a Buddhist niche in the Longmen Grottoes. However, time was tight and the project was demanding, so they continued carving and preparing the shrine in the Binyang North and South Caves, which were unfinished and had been carved by Emperor Xuanwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty.

Emperor Xuanwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty dug the South, Middle and North Caves in Binyang. It took him more than 20 years to complete only the Middle Cave. The South and North Caves were only half completed due to various reasons.

Li Tai continued the excavation on the basis of the Northern Wei Dynasty, which consumed a lot of manpower. Even Yan Lide came here to help, which allowed the North and South caves to be completed at the same time.

Now they are in Binyang South Cave.

Face east and greet the sun.

The emperor held the incense sticks, bowed deeply three times to the Buddha statue, and then handed the incense sticks to the side.

Three eminent monks from the White Horse Temple, Longmen Temple and Qianxi Temple bowed, and the abbot of the Longmen Temple personally took the incense and inserted it into the incense burner.

……

Li Shimin walked out of the shrine, nodded to Li Tai, and said, "Qingque did a good job."

"Thank you for the praise, father." Li Tai bowed with a look of joy.

The emperor's expression calmed down, and then he said, "Let's go and take a look at Binyang North Cave."

Li Tai's expression suddenly tensed, and Chai Lingwu's expression behind him also became solemn in an instant.

Li Tai stepped forward cautiously, cupped his hands, and said, "Father, I have a secret report to present to you in Beidong."

Li Shimin raised his head, looked at everyone and said, "You all stay here. Wuji and Prince Wei will accompany me to the North Cave."

"Yes!" All the ministers bowed.

Du He stood in the back, looking surprised. He watched the emperor and Li Tai walk away, then looked at Princess Chengyang and asked, "Princess, what's going on in Beidong?"

"I'm not sure." Princess Chengyang looked at Princess Gaoyang on the side, and Princess Gaoyang was also equally confused.

The Binyang North Cave Grottoes were built into a Buddhist shrine with donations from Princess Changle, Princess Yuzhang, Princess Chengyang, Princess Gaoyang, Princess Jinyang, Princess Xincheng, and other princes who accompanied Li Tai. Among them, Princess Changle and Princess Gaoyang donated the most.

But they didn't know what the North Cave was like.

……

With a "slap", Li Shimin slapped Li Tai hard in the face.

Li Tai immediately covered his face and looked at Li Shimin in disbelief: "Father."

Li Shimin pointed at the broken Buddha statue in front of him and said angrily, "This is the Buddha statue you painstakingly carved to pray for your mother's afterlife. If you look at it like this, the Buddha will probably strike you to death with a thunderbolt."

Compared with the Binyang South Cave, the Buddha statues in the Binyang North Cave appear much rougher. Even the thumb of the Buddha is broken, forming a pair of scissor hands.

This is disrespectful to Buddha and also disrespectful to Empress Changsun.

"Father, this isn't my fault. My father-in-law was planning to come here, but he suddenly took up his post in Guangzhou, which led him to…" Li Tai hadn't finished speaking when Zhangsun Wuji suddenly interrupted him, "Prince Wei, stop talking."

Li Tai's expression froze, and he looked up at Li Shimin.

The emperor looked at Li Tai coldly, then walked out without looking back.

When passing by Changsun Wuji, Li Shimin nodded slightly to him.

Changsun Wuji bowed solemnly!

(End of this chapter)