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

Chapter 261 Wu Mei Niang and Xu Hui, the Crown Princess is pregnant again (Part )
A series of firecrackers just rang out at the Chongde Gate of the Eastern Palace.

It’s New Year’s Eve.

A purple-covered carriage slowly stopped.

Fang Yiai jumped off the carriage first, then turned around and took their son from Princess Gaoyang.

Li Chengqian looked at the baby in the cradle and said helplessly: "Gao Yang, what are you doing? Cheng Yang brought her child into the palace, so you should bring your child into the palace too, right?"

"Royal brother!" Gao Yang got off the carriage and bowed to Li Chengqian, saying, "Royal brother, I wish you a happy new year."

"Alas!" Li Chengqian pulled out a red coin bag from his sleeve and handed it to Gao Yang helplessly, saying, "Inside is a batch of Ruyi money given by my father last year. I carried it with me for a year. If you hadn't brought the child here this year, I would have given it to the Princess of Ankang County."

"Thank you, my Royal Brother." Gao Yang snatched it away immediately upon hearing that it was something Li Chengqian had left for his own daughter. He then bowed with a smile and said, "My Royal Brother, I will go to the Lizheng Palace first. There are many people there."

"Go ahead, hurry up." Li Chengqian smiled and waved his hand, then suddenly remembered something and said, "Stay in Lizheng Hall tonight for only an hour and a half. Remember to drink less, and then go home early with Erlang."

"My royal brother, will you only keep us here for an hour and a half tonight?" Princess Gaoyang looked at Li Chengqian in surprise.

"Yes!" Li Chengqian nodded and said, "Since the emperor is not in the palace, it will be nice to have some fun. There is no need to waste too much time. Go home early and have a good rest tonight. It's a rare opportunity that there is no court tomorrow."

After Li Chengqian finished speaking, he turned to look at Fang Yiai and said, "Don't you agree, Erlang?"

"Yes!" Fang Yiai nodded quickly.

"Royal brother, is there any new news from father?" Princess Gaoyang couldn't help but ask the emperor.

"The Emperor is in Youzhou now, not in Liaoxi." Li Chengqian glanced at Princess Gaoyang with amusement and said, "Tonight, the Emperor might be celebrating the New Year with tens of thousands of soldiers and officers. If you miss him, please write a memorial and I will take it with me next time I send someone to deliver it to the army."

"Okay, thank you, my royal brother!" Princess Gaoyang stood up happily, took the child from Fang Yiai's hands, and then went to the palace with her maid.

After Princess Gaoyang disappeared from his sight, Li Chengqian turned around and looked at Fang Yiai, and asked gently, "Erlang, how are you doing recently? How are you adapting to the position of Junior Supervisor of the Imperial Household?"

"Fortunately, the Duke of Linchuan is very caring." Before Fang Yiai finished his words, the voice of Li Demao, the Duke of Linchuan and the Supervisor of the Imperial Household, could be heard from the Chongjiao Hall: "Fang Er, you have a conscience."

Li Demao, Duke of Linchuan, was the eldest son of Li Shenfu, Prince of Xiangyi.

Li Shenfu is the grandson of Emperor Taizu Li Hu, the cousin of Emperor Gaozu Li Yuan, the younger brother of King Huainan Li Shentong, and the oldest among the royal princes today.

Of course, Li Shenfu did not come to the East Palace tonight.

Tonight, only the younger generation are here, while the older generation is basically at home.

Just as Li Chengqian said, it is rare that all the kings and nobles do not gather together in Liangyi Hall tonight.

Since the emperor was not in Chang'an, everyone could celebrate the New Year more comfortably.

"Duke of Linchuan, Prince of Teng, Prince of Han, Prince of Zhao, Prince of Cao..." Fang Yiai saluted the dozen or so people in the hall one by one.

Tonight, Li Chengqian's East Palace only entertained a dozen people. When young people were together, they were more able to speak their own words.

However, most people's attention was initially focused on Fang Yiai.

Not long ago, just after Princess Gaoyang gave birth, Fang Yiai was transferred to the position of Shaofu Shaojian. His superior was Shaofu Jian Li Demao.

After three rounds of drinking, Li Chengqian raised his head, looked outside the hall, and said loudly: "Come on, dance."

The bells and chimes sounded, and the dancers danced gracefully.

……

When the drums and music stopped, Wu Meiniang's cheeks were already red from drinking. Her eyes fell on the dancers who were slowly retreating from the hall. Then she leaned on Xu Hui and whispered, "Sister, why are people so different?"

Xu Hui, dressed in a cyan-blue skirt, followed Wu Meiniang's gaze and looked at the Crown Princess Su Shu, who was sitting in the main seat above. She understood what her silly sister was talking about. She shook her head gently, then looked at Wu Meiniang with a doting face and said, "Meiniang, you have only seen the glory of the Crown Princess in the past two years and have forgotten what happened in the past two years."

Wu Meiniang raised her eyebrows slightly and immediately came to her senses.

A few years ago, when the crown prince broke his leg and became lame, rumors in the court had even led to the crown prince being deposed countless times.

Later, the prince turned the situation around step by step, and finally even forced the King of Wei to rebel. But unfortunately, even if he rebelled, the King of Wei was killed by the prince step by step.

Being a crown prince is not easy either. If he takes a wrong step, he will lose his position as crown prince.

The most important reason why the prince was able to completely turn the situation around was that he reconnected his broken leg.

Break your legs again and then reconnect them.

This kind of pain is more than what ordinary people can bear.

Not to mention, there were other rumors in the palace that the prince even planned to completely sew up his leg bones with needle and thread.

Regardless of whether this is true or not, it sounds really creepy.

Now, the position of the Crown Princess was all won back by the Crown Prince.

She and the prince share the same fate.

Now that the crown prince has been deposed, her fate will definitely not be any better.

Now, seeing Su Shu sitting in the position where the queen once stood, Wu Meiniang suddenly lost all thoughts of comparison in her mind.

As for the position of the queen, in the entire hall now, only the Crown Princess Su Shu is qualified to sit there.

Because she was the Crown Princess chosen by Empress Wende herself for the Crown Prince. Once the Crown Prince ascended the throne, Su Shu would be the Queen.

Thinking of this, Wu Meiniang raised her head, looked at Xu Hui and said, "Sister, when do you think His Majesty will be back? I miss His Majesty."

Xu Hui patted Wu Meiniang on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, even if your campaign against Goguryeo goes smoothly this time, it will probably take until the year after next. Everything is not that easy." "Hmm!" Wu Meiniang couldn't help but have a hint of worry in her eyes.

At this moment, Su Shu, who was sitting on the main couch, couldn't help but utter an uncontrollable low murmur, and then bursts of dry heaving sounds came out, which didn't stop for a long time.

Seeing this scene, the hall suddenly became silent.

For the women in the palace, this kind of scene is the one they are most familiar with, most look forward to, and most unfamiliar with.

The Crown Princess is pregnant.

"Oh!" Immediately afterwards, Wei Wei beside her couldn't help but started to dry heave.

Concubine Wei, who was sitting on Su Shu's right, immediately stood up and shouted, "Call the imperial physician, call the imperial physician..."

Wu Meiniang and Xu Hui could no longer hold back and stood up at this time.

Looking at this scene, both of them had confusion on their faces, but they couldn't help but flash a trace of envy in their eyes. When their gaze fell on Wei Wei, this envy instantly became extremely strong.

Offspring, offspring.

What the women in the harem covet most is offspring.

The Crown Princess is fine, she is already the mother of three children, and now it is just the fourth one.

But Wei Wei is different. She has her first child, and will also be the prince's sixth child.

With six children, the prince has one of the highest number of children even among the royal family, which is always known for having many children.

No one alive today, except the emperor, can compare to the prince.

Not to mention the King of Jin.

……

East Palace, Cheng'en Hall.

Li Chengqian paced outside the hall without stopping, his face full of surprise and joy.

Prince of Han, Li Yuanchang, stepped forward, clasped his hands, and said, "Your Highness, this is a great omen. We should immediately send a message to the Youzhou army, telling Your Majesty that the Crown Prince was born with twins on the day of the army's expedition. This is an auspicious omen!"

"This is an auspicious sign!" Du He stepped forward and said with a bow, "Your Highness, this is a very auspicious event. Fang Er, hurry back home now and inform Duke Liang. Ask if this matter can be spread throughout Chang'an City, and then throughout the world..."

"No need!" Li Chengqian came back to his senses and interrupted Du He, saying, "My beloved concubine is only pregnant now, it's not the time to make a big fuss. Besides, it's New Year, which is always auspicious. This is at most icing on the cake, not an auspicious sign. Chang'an City doesn't need it."

After a brief pause, Li Chengqian said, "Du He, go write the memorial and send it to the front of the army. Fang Er, arrange for everyone to go to the residences of Prime Minister Fang, my uncle, Prime Minister Yang, Prime Minister Yu, and all the officials above the third rank currently in Chang'an to inform them. That's enough. There's no need for any more fanfare."

"Your Highness!" Du He tried to persuade him again.

Li Chengqian waved his hand and said, "Too much is as bad as too little. Du He, you have to understand this."

Du He was slightly stunned, then he bowed and said, "Yes!"

Li Chengqian nodded, then looked at everyone and said, "Let's do this. By the way, I would like to inform you that no one needs to come to the palace tonight, and no one needs to visit tomorrow. Everyone should enjoy their own New Year. That should be enough."

"Yes!" Everyone bowed in unison, then turned around and left, taking the women of each family with them.

Only then did Li Chengqian breathe a sigh of relief and walked towards the hall.

Imperial Physician Li Qin just came out of the inner hall and bowed to Li Chengqian, saying, "Congratulations, Your Highness! The Crown Princess and Wei Liangti are both pregnant at the same time."

"Thank you, Doctor Li. I'll trouble you again during the New Year." Li Chengqian looked at Xu An beside him and said, "Send the imperial physician out. At the same time, tell Qin Huaidao that he has nothing to do in the palace tonight. Have him go to Prime Minister Wei's residence in person and tell them that I will bring Concubine Wei to visit Prime Minister Wei's residence the next day."

"Yes!" Xu An immediately bowed, then turned and left.

Li Chengqian then walked into the hall, looked at Su Shu and Wei Wei and said, "What do you think?"

"Not bad." Su Shu rolled her eyes at Li Chengqian, then said, "Your Highness, please sleep somewhere else tonight. I need to explain to my sister about the pregnancy."

"Okay!" Li Chengqian was a little dazed, but after making some arrangements, he left Cheng'en Hall.

Standing outside the hall, gusts of cold wind blew, and Li Chengqian felt inexplicably dizzy.

At this moment, "Dong Dong Dong..." the New Year's bell rang eighteen times in a row.

It is now the eighteenth year of Zhenguan.

Li Chengqian shuddered suddenly.

Yes, it’s the 18th year of Zhenguan.

In his previous life, he had already been exiled to Qianzhou at this time.

But now, in this life.

He is still in Chang'an, and he is still the prince.

It has been 18 years since the Zhenguan reign, and he is still the crown prince. As long as the emperor is alive, no one can pull him down from this position.

As for the emperor's death, he took it a step further.

Li Chengqian looked gently in the direction of Taiji Hall, and the image of the dragon couch appeared in his mind.

(End of this chapter)