Datang: Just been appointed as the crown prince, the counterattack system is here

Chapter 24 Grandpa, the bigger the storm, the more expensive the fish [New Book Collection]

The night in Da'an Palace was no different from the night in the bedroom of "Little Yang Fei".

The people in Da'an Palace were no different from those in the bedroom of "Little Yang Fei".

They are all as black as ink, both are emperors and women.

At this time, Emperor Li Yuan was sitting lazily on the couch, hugging a woman in palace dress. The one on the left was Concubine Zhang, and the one on the right was Concubine Yin De.

Although according to the ranking of status in the palace, Concubine Yin De's ranking is higher than Concubine Zhang, but from the position of the two leaning in Li Yuan's arms, it is not difficult to see that Concubine Zhang is more favored by Li Yuan and looks younger and more beautiful than Concubine Yin De.

On their left, there was a middle-aged man kneeling and talking to Li Yuan with a smile on his face.

"Your Majesty, I know you like the pipa, so I specially found a new set of strings for you. It is definitely better than the ones in the palace."

"Oh?"

Li Yuan's eyes lit up, and he immediately became interested: "What kind of new string is it? Can it be better than the ones in the palace?"

"I'm not bragging, but the pipa strings in this palace are made of twisted tussah silk. While the sound is pleasant, they're difficult to maintain and break easily!"

"Well, that makes sense."

Li Yuan was an expert at playing the pipa, so he naturally knew the quality of pipa strings. He nodded in approval and asked curiously, "What material are your pipa strings made of?"

"Replying to the Emperor, the strings of this pipa are made of twisted deer tendons. Not only are they not easy to break, but the sound they produce is also very beautiful!"

As he spoke, he took out a lacquer box from his bosom and handed it to Li Yuan: "Your Majesty, please take a closer look."

"Ah."

Li Yuan smiled and let go of the concubine in his arms, took the lacquer box, and opened it directly. There were indeed several tied pipa strings inside.

The middle-aged man then explained, "First, split the deer tendons into 500 strands, then saltpeter them until each strand is as transparent as silk. Then twist them together and coat them with sesame oil. They look like silk, are tough when used, and make a sound like metal and stone!"

"Okay! Okay, okay."

Li Yuan picked up the pipa strings and observed them carefully. The more he watched, the more delighted he became, and he couldn't help but applaud repeatedly.

Then, he put the pipa string in his mouth, like a pipa fanatic, playing it and feeling its toughness.

After confirming that the string was as wonderful as the middle-aged man said, he smiled and asked, "Where did you get this string?"

"This"

The middle-aged man hesitated for a moment, then glanced at Concubine Zhang and Concubine Yin De, and said with a wry smile: "If we want to talk about where this string came from, we have to mention how difficult it was to get it."

"but."

As he spoke, he changed the subject and continued, "Prince Changle is truly filial to the Emperor!"

"King Changle?"

Li Yuan frowned, looked at the pipa string in his hand again, and said, "What does this have to do with him?"

"Haha, to be honest with you, Your Majesty, Prince Changle is in Liang Province, and his men have done some business with the Turks."

"Humph!"

Before the middle-aged man could finish his words, Li Yuan interrupted him with a cold snort and said sternly, "A prince cannot engage in business. Isn't this breaking the law?"

"This"

The middle-aged man looked embarrassed.

At this time, Concubine Yin De, who had been silent all this time, leaned on Li Yuan with a smile, and said in a coquettish tone: "Oh, look at what the emperor said, the prince's business is nothing more than some wine, jade, utensils and so on."

"All the things you mentioned are illegal!"

Li Yuan also interrupted Concubine Yin De's words.

The atmosphere became awkward again.

Although Li Yuan had retreated to the second line, he was still the emperor at heart, and naturally did not like such illegal and disorderly things.

At this moment, the beautiful young Concubine Zhang suddenly laughed. "They say good wine goes well with good food. Now that you have a nice pipa string, why doesn't the Emperor let someone try it out?"

"Oh, yes, yes, come here, let the musician come and test the strings!
When Li Yuan heard what Concubine Zhang said, he seemed to react immediately, nodded with a smile and gave orders.

Soon, a male musician from Da'an Palace came to the inner hall.

Li Yuan casually handed the pipa strings to Concubine Zhang and asked the male musician to change the strings and play.

About a minute later, a melodious pipa sound rang out in the inner hall, and Li Yuan nodded his head, feeling relaxed and contented.

"Hmm, yes, this sound is indeed different from the Pipa in the palace."

"Yeah, it's a little hard."

Concubine Zhang agreed with a smile.

The middle-aged man beside him quickly said, "It's better to be harder. The harder it is, the longer it will bounce. Otherwise, if it gets soft, there will be no sound."

"hehe."

Concubine Zhang smiled without comment, then took the pipa from the male musician and started playing it herself.

It would be impossible for a concubine to be favored by Li Yuan without having any special skills.

The sound of Zhang Jieyu's pipa was obviously more melodious and smooth than that of the male musician just now, and it was very pleasant to the ears.

The middle-aged man couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion, and sighed with a smile:

"Listen to the Liangzhou Slow Song, drink Zhangye wine, eat roasted deer tail, the night dew contains the fragrance of flowers, the spring pond shimmers with the moonlight, meet the wandering girls on the Han River, Xiangchuan is worth two concubines, the emperor."

"Yes!"

Li Yuan glanced at him and said with emotion: "This is Emperor Yang of Sui's Spring River Moon Night, so cold and beautiful. You, the General of the Left Guard, live a happier life than me, the Emperor Emeritus!"

The middle-aged man was shocked when he heard this and said quickly, "Your Majesty, you are joking. How can I compare with you?"

"hehe."

Li Yuan smiled noncommittally and said nonchalantly, "I heard that there is nothing in Chang'an City that Changsun Anye doesn't know."

"Your Majesty, thank you for your praise. Actually, there hasn't been much going on recently. Your Majesty just discussed the New Year's reward for meritorious officials in the court. Prince Yi'an didn't agree at all and seemed unhappy."

"Ah!"

Li Yuan snorted, as if he had seen through everything, and said, "As for me, I am now the retired emperor and I don't care about state affairs. If anyone is unhappy, let them fight for it themselves!"

"But."

Changsun Anye opened his mouth, but hesitated to speak.

At this time, Concubine Zhang spoke again: "Your Majesty, I heard that Prince Yi'an is loyal and righteous to the Tang Dynasty!"

"Yes!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yuan seemed to remember something and nodded, saying, "In the 13th year of Daye, I raised an army in Jinyang. Xiao Chang was the magistrate of Huayin in the Sui Dynasty at that time."

"At that time, he surrendered with Yongfeng Warehouse."

"As for the Sui Dynasty, there were four large granaries, which were the source of the Sui Dynasty's national strength."

"Xiao Chang surrendered with a quarter of his grain, so we opened our warehouses and distributed it to the people. More and more people followed us."

Having said this, he paused and then said with emotion: "Otherwise, attacking Chang'an would be really troublesome!"

"Then was it because of this incident that the retired emperor named him Prince of Yi'an?" Concubine Yin De came over and asked with a curious smile.

Li Yuan glanced at her and said calmly, "This is the only merit he has for being crowned king."

"This is quite a contribution!"

Changsun Anye took over the conversation and was about to say a few more words when a voice suddenly came from outside the hall: "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Prince of Zhongshan requests an audience!"

"Ok?"

Li Yuan was slightly stunned and thought to himself, why is this guy here so late?
Could it be that he ran here secretly?

Thinking of this, Li Yuan remembered what happened during the day and suddenly felt very upset.

Meanwhile, Changsun Anye and Concubine Yin De exchanged a tacit glance, with Concubine Yin speaking first: "Grand Emperor, I am a little tired and would like to go back and rest."

"Go, go, and have some rest!"

Li Yuan dismissed Concubine Yin De casually.

Because he knew that Concubine Yin De and Li Chengqian did not get along, and he was too lazy to watch them quarrel. However, as soon as Concubine Yin De left, Changsun Anye stood up and bowed, saying, "Grand Emperor, I will also leave for now!"

Hearing this, Li Yuan said with some amusement, "He's your nephew, why are you avoiding him?"

"This"

Changsun Anye was speechless.

But then Li Yuan gave another order: "Let him in!"

"promise!"

A palace attendant responded and soon brought Li Chengqian in.

"Grandson Cheng Qian pays homage to His Majesty the Grand Emperor!"

Li Chengqian came in and bowed respectfully.

Li Yuan said with a smile: "Come, my dear grandson, come closer to grandpa, there is a heater over here, it's warm enough!"

"Thank you, grandpa."

Li Chengqian obediently came to a place not far from Li Yuan and knelt down.

At this moment, he saw Changsun Anye standing beside him from the corner of his eye and asked curiously, "Who is this?"

"Uh"

Changsun Anye's mouth twitched and his face was full of embarrassment.

Li Yuan glanced at him and said with a half-smile, "Grandson, don't you recognize him? This is your uncle!"

"My uncle?"

Li Chengqian was stunned: "Isn't my uncle Zhangsun Wuji?
"Uh"

Changsun Anye was so embarrassed that he wished he could find a hole to crawl into. He quickly said to Li Yuan again, "Grand Emperor, my aunt asked me to find something. I'll show it to her first!"

"hehe."

Li Yuan smiled faintly and did not embarrass him. He waved his hand and said, "Go down, all of you!"

As soon as these words were spoken, not only Changsun Anye, but even Concubine Zhang tactfully left the inner hall.

Soon, only the grandfather and grandson were left in the entire inner hall.

"Grandpa, I sent you a female musician. She said she can play the pipa with her backhand. Are you interested?" Li Chengqian said with a smile.

Li Yuan was slightly startled. He had heard of this female musician who played the pipa with her backhand, but wasn't she Erlang's? How did this kid get her here?

Before he could react, Li Chengqian clapped his hands and signaled Xiao Leshi to come in, as if he was presenting a treasure.

"I, your concubine, pay my respects to His Majesty the Retired Emperor!"

"Uh"

Li Yuan's mouth twitched, and he was at a loss whether to laugh or cry for a moment.

Although what Li Chengqian did was a bit absurd, it was enough to show that Li Chengqian was really good to his grandfather.

Much better than those hypocritical people.

"Play it!"

At this point, Li Yuan didn't say much and took over very casually.

Musician Xiao immediately sat cross-legged outside the hall and began to play the pipa.

When Li Yuan heard the sound of the pipa she played, he showed an infatuated expression, which made Li Chengqian smile knowingly.

"Grandpa, how does this female musician play?" Li Chengqian asked knowingly with a smile.

"Yes, Not Bad."

Li Yuan nodded in satisfaction, but suddenly felt something was wrong. He looked at Li Chengqian and said strangely, "Grandson, I think you still have something to say! What you didn't finish today."

"Grandpa is wise!"

Li Chengqian knew this was a thousand-year-old fox, and he didn't intend to tell him about Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, so he asked directly, "Grandfather, what do you think about reinstating your grandson as Crown Prince?"

"Didn't Pei San ask you? Will your father agree to grandfather appointing him as the crown prince?"

"Under normal circumstances, they would definitely not agree, but we have to make the situation abnormal to have a chance!"

Li Yuan raised his eyebrows: "How to make the situation abnormal?"

"Grandpa, what do you think will happen as a result of what my father will do next?" Li Chengqian asked with a smile.

Li Yuan frowned and glanced at him, then said thoughtfully, "As the saying goes, it's easy to invite a deity, but hard to send it away. When we bestow rewards, it's to please everyone. Reducing them might anger the gods and resent the people."

"so!"

Li Chengqian shrugged and said, "My father will definitely offend a lot of people because of this, and he might even force some to rebel. As long as we make things a little more difficult, grandfather can easily solve it for him. What do you think will happen to my father?"

"This"

Li Yuan looked at Li Chengqian in some surprise. If he still regarded Li Chengqian as an eight-year-old child, he would not be Li Yuan, the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

"Do you know the consequences of doing this?"

Li Yuan came back to his senses from his shock and looked at Li Chengqian with a serious expression.

"Grandson naturally knows. But Grandpa, have you ever thought about it? Whether you do it or not, the reality is there. There can only be one person in charge of the Tang Dynasty!"

Li Chengqian smiled meaningfully and said, "Those high-ranking officials that Grandpa has arranged for the imperial court will sooner or later be replaced by my father's men. If Grandpa does nothing and allows them to cause trouble for my father, then Grandpa's future life will not necessarily be easy!"

He was not making this statement casually. In history, Li Yuan was indeed badly betrayed by his old ministers.

"So, there are only two paths before Grandpa now. One is to make my father feel your pressure and not dare to act rashly. The other is to completely give up the title of Wude Old Minister and live out his days in peace!"

"This"

Li Yuan's eyes widened, and he looked at Li Chengqian in disbelief: "Who taught you this?"

"I said no one taught me, grandpa, do you believe me?"

"you"

Li Yuan was shocked again, and couldn't help but ask, "What do you think Grandpa should do?"

Li Chengqian thought for a moment and said, "To be honest, with my father's current strength, it's very unlikely that grandpa will have a chance to restore the throne. So, in my opinion, it's better to pursue both paths at the same time. Let my father understand one thing: it's not that you don't have the ability to take back the Tang Dynasty, but that you don't want to bother with it anymore."

"Of course! The prerequisite is that I, your grandson, can return to the throne of the Crown Prince. That way, Grandpa won't end up locked up in the palace for the rest of his life!"

"hehe."

Li Yuan laughed, a very incredible, mysterious laugh: "Grandson, you know, if this matter is not handled well, many people will die."

Li Chengqian blinked and smiled, "I wonder if Grandpa has ever heard of this saying?"

"What?"

“The louder the waves, the more expensive the fish.”

"?"

Li Yuan's face was full of question marks, and he couldn't help feeling puzzled.

Li Chengqian slowly stood up from the ground, his hands behind his back, and said in a dignified manner, "Grandpa, in war, someone has to sacrifice!"

"We are not doing this to compete with my father for power, but to prove ourselves and tell everyone that what we have lost must be taken back with our own hands!"

"This"

Li Yuan was surprised and thought to himself, what a courageous boy.

but.

Do you want to fight for it and take it back with your own hands?

It's quite interesting.

"Tell me about your plan!"

　[Please collect, please vote for the monthly ticket, please recommend, please read]

　　
　
(End of this chapter)