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

Chapter 71: The Crown Prince Celebrates His Birthday, and the King of Wei is Tricked

The emperor sat down calmly on the imperial couch, and Imperial Noble Consort Wei Gui sat beside him.

The ministers in the Liangyi Hall all bowed and said, "Your Majesty, we pay our respects to you. May your Majesty live forever!"

Li Shimin looked up at the ministers in the hall, including Li Chengqian and Li Tai, who were standing on the flat steps in the center of the Danbi with their families.

Li Zhi and Jinyang stood behind a low table on the right, Chengyang and Wencheng stood behind a low table on the left, and Xincheng did not come today.

Under the red steps, Gao Shilian, Zhangsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Yang Shidao, Wei Zheng, Lu Dongzan, Li Ke, Li You, Princess Gaoyang and other princes and princesses and their families sat on the left; Li Yuanjing, Li Yuanchang, Li Yuanjia and other princes and princesses Changsha, Xiangyang, Changguang and other princesses and their families sat on the left.

The entire hall was densely packed with people, all of whom bowed their heads.

Li Shimin's face was immediately filled with smiles. He waved his hand slightly and said, "Please sit down. Today is a family dinner. No need to be polite."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Everyone bowed in unison and then sat down on the low table.

The atmosphere in the entire hall became somewhat relaxed for a moment.

The emperor smiled and nodded, raised his wine bottle and said, "On New Year's Eve, families gather together. Come, my lords, my brothers, and you, come and raise your glasses to celebrate the reunion."

"Your Majesty, may you be reunited and in good health." Everyone in the hall raised their glasses.

Li Shimin drank the wine in the jar in one gulp, and the maid behind him immediately came forward to fill it up.

The emperor's gaze fell on his eldest grandson Li Xin. Seeing that he was tall and capable, he nodded with satisfaction. He turned to look at Li Xiang and Li Jue, the two children, one solemn and the other cute, and inexplicably felt a sense of joy.

"This year, the weather has been good, and the mountains and rivers are peaceful. Come, my fellow ministers, let us raise our glasses again to celebrate the good harvest." Li Shimin raised the wine jar high again.

"Your Majesty, may you enjoy the good harvest." Everyone in the hall raised their glasses again.

After drinking the wine in one gulp, Li Shimin put down the wine jar and then looked up at everyone.

His gaze passed from Princess Wencheng to Lu Dongzan, and then to all the ministers in the hall, his expression slightly solemn.

After the maidservant behind him filled his wine jar, Li Shimin spoke: "This year, you ministers have worked hard in your posts. I see it with my own eyes. Let me raise my glass to celebrate the stability."

"May your majesty live long and healthy." Everyone raised their glasses again.

Li Shimin drank the wine in one gulp, then put down the wine bottle, looked outside the hall and said, "Come here, dance!"

……

"Thump, thump, thump..." Thirty-six burly Qianniu warriors with bare left arms and wearing red clothes and golden armor strode into the hall.

These warriors each held a shield in their left hand and a sword in their right hand. They stood in the center of the hall and bowed slightly to the emperor.

Li Shimin raised his hand slightly, and the warriors immediately dispersed.

Everyone held their shields forward, their sword handles hidden behind them. Suddenly, they slashed downwards with their swords: "Whoosh!"

There were shouts and the blades whirled.

Thirty-six warriors suddenly waved their swords rapidly in the hall with fierce momentum.

In the firelight, the blade flashed with a menacing cold light.

While constantly jumping and dodging back and forth, the long sword kept hitting the round shield, making dull but rhythmic sounds.

“Bang, bang, bang… whoosh whoosh!”

In the hall, the soldiers danced and jumped, shouting loudly, which was deafening.

Li Chengqian glanced back and could clearly see that the long sword was moving back and forth quickly and slowly, with strikes and stabs that were dense and orderly, making it even more dangerous.

The army formation was constantly changing: left circle, right square, front slant and back five, fish-like, geese and storks, wings spread out, flexing and stretching in an interlaced manner, head and tail turning around, with extraordinary skill.

The king of Qin broke the formation and danced.

At this moment, almost everyone's eyes were on the group of soldiers performing martial arts exercises.

The sounds of dozens of musicians playing around were gradually fading away, and everyone's attention was focused on the martial arts performance.

With a "whoosh" sound, the knife light suddenly retracted.

All the Qianniu warriors have returned to the center of the hall.

The thirty-six men stood solemnly holding knives, their bodies covered in sweat, their bulging muscles making them look even more beautiful.

The emperor looked sideways at Zhang Ananda and said with satisfaction, "Reward!"

Zhang Ananda immediately stepped forward, waved his whisk and said, "Your Majesty has ordered a reward!"

"Hoo!" The thirty-six people immediately bowed and slowly left the hall.

At this time, Li Chengqian turned sideways and looked at Su Shu beside him with concern. Su Shu nodded slightly, then looked at her two sons.

The two sons were fine. Although they looked a little pale, their eyes were wide open and their faces were full of curiosity.

Su Shu finally breathed a sigh of relief. She had experienced such scenes countless times, but this was the first time her two sons had seen it.

Not scared, that's good.

Li Chengqian relaxed slightly, then glanced at the Tubo envoy Lu Dongzan below.

Lu Dongzan came alone tonight, and his face looked a little ugly.

The Qin King's Breaking Formation Dance that the thirty-six thousand-bull warriors just performed was a set of sword techniques that were simplified from the sword techniques summarized after the killing on the battlefield.

The killing was fierce and the momentum was astonishing. Not only that, the thirty-six people would occasionally unite into groups of three, three, nine, and nine, swinging their swords together.

That was obviously a complete set of battle formations.

This battle formation method was only simplified in Lu Dongzan's eyes, but it was still thrilling. One could imagine how powerful it was in its entirety.

A sneer flashed in Li Chengqian's eyes.

His father always did this every New Year's Eve, and there was a reason for that.

At the end of the year, seeing blood is an ominous sign.

At the beginning of the new year, seeing blood is a good omen.

……

After a while, the hall finally became completely quiet.

Li Chengqian glanced at Li Tai calmly, then stood up first and raised the wine bottle.

Li Tai, Li Zhi, Princess Chengyang, Princess Jinyang, Princess Wencheng, and many more young princes and princesses all stood up and raised their wine cups.

Li Chengqian raised his glass with both hands, looked at the emperor and said, "Father, your Majesty, I, your son, and all your brothers and sisters, respectfully wish you a prosperous new year, good health, everlasting blessings, and a long life."

"I wish our father a happy new year, good health, everlasting blessings and a long life." Many princes and princesses raised their glasses to congratulate him.

"Hmm!" Li Shimin nodded, his eyes swept over Li Chengqian's left leg, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, and then he raised his glass and said: "Happy New Year's Eve, stay healthy and healthy. Come, drink."

"Thank you, father." The princes all bowed and drank the wine in their cups.

Li Chengqian put down his wine glass, looked at the emperor, and then continued to bow and said, "Father, to celebrate New Year's Eve, your son has prepared three gifts to present to you."

"Oh!" Li Shimin nodded slightly.

The two eunuchs then carried three boxes, one large and two small, and came to the front of the steps.

Li Chengqian first opened the small box on top, and instantly a whole row of palm-sized puppets of various colors, a total of seventy-two, appeared in front of the emperor.

"Your Majesty, these are the seventy-two tumblers made by Yang Wulian, the new head craftsman of the Eastern Palace, based on the seventy-two postures of the puppets by his teachers, the brothers Huang Gen and Huang Gun. There are the seventy-two figures of Fortune, Luck, Longevity, Happiness, Wealth, and Wealth." Li Chengqian bowed earnestly and said, "I wish Your Majesty, Father, great fortune and a long life."

Li Shimin looked at the exquisite 72 tumblers. Although he knew Li Chengqian had some thoughts, he nodded with satisfaction and said, "The prince has put in a lot of effort."

"Thank you, father." Li Chengqian bowed.

Li Tai, who was standing on the side, saw these tumblers and his expression changed slightly.

When Li Chengqian gave each minister in the Eastern Palace an indestructible birthday plaque, Li Tai sneered in his heart when he found out.

This untumbled longevity wax scroll seems to be saying that Crown Prince Li Chengqian's position will remain untumbled. However, if Li Chengqian wants to give this untumbled longevity wax scroll to the emperor, then with a little bit of fabrication, it can be said that the crown prince dislikes the emperor's long reign.

It is easy to arouse the emperor's disgust.

This was Li Tai's original plan, but he didn't expect that the seventy-two tumblers would look like this.

He couldn't help but grit his teeth.

……

At this time, Li Chengqian had already picked up the second box and opened it. Inside was a painting on silk. Li Chengqian slowly unfolded it and said, "This is a painting of a steed given to me by my uncle, the Prince of Han. I was inspired by this and wrote a poem to present to you, my father."

"Oh!" The emperor waved his hand slightly. Zhang Ananda stepped forward to take it and placed it in front of the emperor.

Li Shimin's eyes passed over Li Yuanchang's horse, then looked at the poem in the upper left corner and read softly: "

The purple horse walks and neighs, its jade-green hooves rolling over the river; it refuses to cross, as if it is reluctant to cross the river, as if it is reluctant to let the brocade block the mud.

The white snow on the mountain passes is far away, the yellow clouds on the sea are confusing; I ride the horse for thousands of miles, how can I miss my boudoir?

Everyone in the hall had fallen silent, with only the emperor's voice muttering, "I'm going a thousand miles, how can I miss my boudoir?"

Li Shimin raised his head and looked at Li Chengqian and said, "Prince, I heard that you wrote a memorial to promote farming?"

"Yes!" Li Chengqian nodded slightly, then pulled out a memorial from his sleeve and handed it over, saying, "This was written based on what the uncle of the King of Han and the King of Wu said. It was later revised by Yu Zhining, the Crown Prince's Secretary, and Zhang Xuansu, the Crown Prince's Junior Secretary. Qingque also provided some suggestions, and finally it was completed. I would like to thank Qingque for this."

Li Chengqian turned sideways and nodded slightly to Li Tai with a gentle expression.

For a moment, Li Tai's eyes were filled with the look of having seen a ghost.

Because inside his sleeve, there was such a memorial lying.

The prince clearly told him that there was no need to rush, but today in front of all the royal family members, he brought up all the issues with the words "I am going thousands of miles away, how can I miss my mother in law?"

That’s right, that painting and that poem were both paving the way for this memorial.

The content of this memorial will greatly offend the kings.

Asking the kings to plow three acres of land personally is a joke.

Li Tai already felt that many people were looking at him with suspicion.

But at this moment he could not refute, because from the moment he took the memorial from his sleeve, Li Chengqian had already plotted against him.

What a bad luck!

　Three updates tomorrow.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)