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

Chapter 360: May you have a son soon, Wu Cairen (Part )
In Cheng'en Hall of the Eastern Palace, Su Shu, dressed in a light yellow skirt, sat in the hall, staring at the bright sunshine outside in a daze.

All the maids in the palace were driven out.

She was sitting alone.

Familiar footsteps came from outside the hall.

Su Shu came back to her senses and looked at Li Chengqian who was entering the hall. She bowed slightly and said, "Greetings, Your Highness!"

Li Chengqian stopped and looked at Su Shu and said, "My beloved concubine, why are you here? Is there something wrong?"

"I heard that the husband chosen by the emperor for Princess Jinyang is Yan Xuanxiu, the son of Yan Lixing, the Minister of the Imperial Household." Su Shu stared at Li Chengqian closely.

Yan Lixing was the third brother of Yan Liben and Yan Lide. At the beginning of the year, he was promoted to Shaofujian for his military achievements in the Eastern Expedition.

"Yes." Li Chengqian looked at Su Shu, reached out and grasped her slightly cold little hand, smiled and shook his head, saying, "I know what my beloved concubine is worried about, but really, there's no need to worry so much. The Yan family was very neutral when Qingque was here, and they won't do anything more now."

"I'm not worried about the Yan family, I'm worried about the King of Wei." Su Shu stared at Li Chengqian and said through gritted teeth, "I'm worried that His Majesty will release the King of Wei."

Su Shu never forgot what happened a few years ago.

She witnessed with her own eyes how Li Chengqian worked hard and went through so much trouble step by step before he completely defeated Li Tai.

Although Li Zhi began to make moves later, he was always suppressed by Li Chengqian.

Now that things have finally gotten a little better, the emperor has started to have feelings for Li Tai again.

"The Emperor chose Yan Xuanxiu as the Prince Consort of Jinyang, but it was actually more for the Yan family." Li Chengqian pulled Su Shu to sit down, then looked at her and said, "Although Yan Xuanxiu is young, he is very knowledgeable. Although he is not as good as Lu Zhaolin, he is much better than Wei Hongmin and his like. He also has a gentle personality and a harmonious family. He is an excellent choice for a Prince Consort."

Su Shu was slightly stunned and frowned, "Is Father really doing this for the Yan family, not the King of Wei?"

"No." Li Chengqian smiled and shook his head, saying, "If Yan Xuanxiu was truly incompetent, I and Zhinu would have already quarreled with Father. How could he have been allowed to pass so easily?"

Whether it was Li Chengqian or Li Zhi, the candidates they recommended at the New Year's Eve banquet showed their bottom line.

If the emperor chooses someone worse than Lu Zhaolin and Wei Hongmin, Li Chengqian and Li Zhi will be the first to be upset.

Yan Xuanxiu is better than Wei Hongmin.

Although Wei Hongmin had the Jingzhao Wei family behind him, above Yan Xuanxiu were Yan Lide, Yan Liben and Yan Lixing.

Yan Lide was the Minister of Revenue, Yan Liben was the Vice Minister of Works, and Yan Lixing was the Supervisor of the Imperial Household.

In fact, if Yan Liben had not been too close to Li Tai in the past, he might have already become a great architect.

One or two of them were of the third rank, and one was of the upper fourth rank. In addition, they had the blood of the Northern Zhou Yuwen clan. Yan Xuanxiu's knowledge was better than Wei Hongmin's. Even if Wei Hongmin had the Jingzhao Wei clan behind him, he could not compare to him.

Of course, in terms of knowledge, Yan Xuanxiu is not as good as Lu Zhaolin, but he is a member of the Yan family.

The three brothers Yan Lide, Yan Liben and Yan Lixing were the best at construction, and they could be said to be the number one construction family in the Tang Dynasty.

The emperor was on an eastern expedition to Goguryeo. Yan Lide was the commander-in-chief of the navy, Yan Lixing assisted Tang Jian in transporting food and grass, and Yan Liben was later transferred to the front line.

The talents of the three Yan brothers and their contributions to the Tang Dynasty are clear.

Yan Xuanxiu has received the true teachings, so he is a good choice.

"The younger generation of the Yan family, Yan Xuansui, Yan Zhuang, and Yan Tai, are all promising people. In the future, not to mention me, even Xiang'er will trust them. In addition, the temperament of the Yan family members makes them the most suitable candidates for the son-in-law." Li Chengqian couldn't help laughing.

Yan Lide was Li Tai's father-in-law, but Yan Lide participated very little in the entire process of Li Tai's rebellion.

The only thing he did with his heart was the Binyang South Cave, which he built to pray for the queen.

Yan Xuanxiu has been influenced by his family education since he was young. He is a humble person, has excellent knowledge and cognition, and comes from a wealthy family. He is much better off than Wei Hongmin and others.

If he were to be a husband, he would be much better than someone like Lu Zhaolin who was displaced, and it seemed that Lu Zhaolin's health was not very good either.

"So, father won't release King Wei?" Su Shu still looked at Li Xuan with some uncertainty.

"Don't worry." Li Chengqian smiled, then leaned close to Su Shu's ear and whispered, "How about letting Yan Zhuang become Xiang'er's grandson's housekeeper in a few years?"

Su Shu's eyes lit up.

……

The rain was falling and the fog was thick.

Li Zhi sat under the wooden pavilion in the backyard of the Prince of Jin's mansion, gazing at the lake ahead. He leaned over and asked, "Father, are you really not doing this to release the Prince of Wei?"

Luo Binwang, dressed in blue, stood behind Li Zhi, shook his head slightly, and said, "Your Majesty is definitely not doing this for the King of Wei. If the King of Wei is released, Your Majesty will not be able to look him in the face... Because of that incident back then, the Crown Prince was secretly pushing it, but Your Majesty was also a cold-eyed bystander."

Li Zhi raised his eyebrows and completely relaxed.

"Your Majesty, most of all, is concerned about the Crown Prince of Wei. After all, he is growing up and will be released from Beiyuan to get married in a few years." Prince Luo Bin paused, looked at Li Zhi and said, "Although Your Majesty is not deliberately targeting Your Highness, the son of the Yan family is the consort of Princess Jinyang. How can Your Highness easily visit Princess Jinyang's residence in the future?"

Li Zhi was slightly stunned, then his face became completely gloomy and his fists were clenched tightly.

He and Jinyang grew up together.

Last year, Jinyang said that she felt lonely because she couldn't see him in the palace.

Li Zhi also comforted Jinyang at the time, saying that as long as she married out of the palace and moved into Princess Jinyang's mansion, Li Zhi would be able to visit Princess Jinyang's mansion at will, so Sizi would not be lonely.

With a loud bang, Li Zhi slammed his fist on the railing and gritted his teeth, "No wonder my father didn't agree with Wei Hongmin becoming the Prince Consort of Jinyang. It turns out he was guarding against me here."

Li Zhi even had a feeling that his father knew everything he and Jinyang had said.

That's why I'm so wary of him.

"That's the first reason." Luo Binwang looked indifferent and continued, "Secondly, there were some people in the Prince of Wei's Mansion back then. These people originally had a good impression of Your Highness, but now that Your Majesty mentioned the Yan family, it will inevitably remind people of what happened in the past and the punishment they received back then. I'm afraid these people will be too scared to approach Your Highness." "Not just them, anyone who is dissatisfied with my royal brother, under the current circumstances, must think carefully if they want to approach me. This is my father's warning." Li Zhi sneered lightly, a hint of resentment flashing in the depths of his indifferent eyes.

Luo Binwang lowered his head indifferently.

Li Zhi came back to his senses, took a deep breath, and asked, "How's your thing going?"

"Almost there." A hint of pride flashed across Luo Binwang's lips, and then he bowed and said, "On the night of the Lantern Festival, the son of Tian Renhui, General of the Right Jinwu Guard and the Xindu Construction Engineer, and the son of Zuo Kuangzheng, General of the Left Jinwu Guard and Duke of Dai, got drunk and had a fight."

After a brief pause, Luo Binwang said calmly, "If Your Highness is impatient to wait, I can let one of the sons of General Tian Zuo die."

Li Zhi raised his eyebrows and looked at Luo Binwang in surprise.

Tian Renhui and Zuo Kuangzheng had conflicts, and their sons had fought during the Lantern Festival. If one of them died at this time, people would naturally suspect the other.

There is a lot of room for maneuver here.

If he operates well, Li Zhi can control both Tian Renhui and Zuo Kuangzheng.

"No rush." ​​Li Zhi breathed a sigh of relief and waved his hand, saying, "Now is not the time. If we continue to deepen their conflict, when the time comes, one of them will die."

"Yes!" Luo Binwang bowed slightly.

Li Zhi raised his head, looked forward, and said softly, "Now we just have to wait for Jinyang's wedding."

……

On the third day of March, spring comes and flowers bloom.

Princess Jinyang got married and the curfew in Chang'an was lifted for three days.

Red silk is wrapped around the beams and a red carpet is spread on the ground.

Laughter and wine are everywhere.

Li Zhi stood at the door of Liangyi Hall, glanced at the emperor and his ministers who were drinking happily in the hall, shook his head with amusement in his heart, then picked up a pot of wine and went towards Xianchun Gate.

"Your Highness!" At Xianchun Gate, the captain of the imperial guards stopped Li Zhi.

Li Zhi, who was a little drunk, looked at the captain of the imperial guard in front of him, took off his badge from his waist and threw it to him in a daze: "Move aside, I want to sit in Lizheng Hall for a while."

The captain guarding the gate was also an old man who had guarded Xianchun Gate for many years. He certainly knew that Prince Jin once lived in Lizheng Hall and Princess Jinyang also lived in Lizheng Hall.

Today, Princess Jinyang has left the palace and gone to the Princess's Mansion, and Prince Jin went to Lizheng Palace, so naturally he reminisced about the past.

"Your Highness, please wait a moment." The captain guarding the gate turned around and said a few words to his men, who immediately ran towards the Liangyi Palace.

They needed to ask the emperor's opinion. After all, Prince Jin was now an adult and no longer lived in the palace.

However, his men soon returned, and the captain returned the badge to Li Zhi and made way.

Li Zhi waved his hands in a daze, then staggered towards the Lizheng Hall.

As he walked past the Wanchun Palace, Li Zhi's eyes suddenly became sharp, but after glancing at the guards around him, he still walked calmly towards the Lizheng Palace.

Finally, he lay down in his former room in the side hall of Lizheng Hall.

Soon, snoring sounds were heard.

The night is getting darker.

Wu Meiniang helped her father back to Wanchun Palace.

Today is Princess Jinyang's wedding, so the emperor inevitably drank a few more glasses and got completely drunk.

Wu Meiniang placed the emperor on the bed, lifted his outer garment, and carefully cleaned the abscess on his back. She only breathed a sigh of relief after applying new medicine.

The lights outside the hall flickered, and the sound inside the hall was silent and cold.

Wu Meiniang huddled in the corner in a daze.

Suddenly, there was a noise outside the hall.

Wu Meiniang frowned, stood up and walked out of the hall.

Standing in front of the palace gate, Wu Meiniang looked at the panicked guards and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Reporting to Lady Wu, someone in the Taiji Hall got drunk and pushed over a candle, setting the curtains on fire." The guard quickly bowed.

Wu Meiniang suddenly felt a little funny. Men, when they drink too much, they all look like ghosts.

Wu Meiniang waved her hand and walked towards the inner hall.

In addition to the main hall, the entire Wanchun Hall also has side halls and a rear hall.

Just as Wu Meiniang was about to enter the inner hall, a sudden "bang" sound came from the back hall.

Wu Meiniang felt a little annoyed. What happened?

The Liangyi Hall had just caught fire, and Wu Meiniang was a little worried, so she walked into the back hall.

Just as she stepped into the back hall, a strong arm reached out from the side, wrapped around her waist from behind and pulled her over, while the other hand covered her lips tightly.

Just as Wu Meiniang was about to struggle, a familiar voice rang in her ears: "Have a baby soon, Lady Wu!"

Wu Meiniang was stunned.

(End of this chapter)