My father, Li Shimin, requests Your Majesty to become the Retired Emperor.

Old Cheng was obese, and standing was tiring, so he sat down.

Li Shimin personally poured him a bowl of tea.

Old Cheng picked up his teacup, drank it all in one gulp, and then wiped his mouth with his hand: "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince is not only a good Crown Prince, but also a good son. It seems you accumulated good karma in your past life."

Li Shimin wanted to test Li Chengqian's intentions.

When Cheng Yaojin arrived, he pretended to be furious and ordered his men to beat him in front of everyone.

Then, Cheng Yaojin was imprisoned in the Dali Temple jail, and he was intentionally placed in the same cell as Li Chengan.

When Cheng Yaojin told Li Chenggan that he wanted to rebel, he was actually testing Li Chenggan.

If Li Chenggan also agrees to rebel, Cheng Yaojin will report what he said to Li Shimin, and then Li Chenggan will really be doomed.

Li Shimin breathed a sigh of relief.

Cheng Yaojin, standing nearby, tried to persuade him: "Your Majesty, are you being a little paranoid?"

I always tend to think the worst of things.

To put it bluntly, in my opinion, Li Chengqian is the most perfect crown prince in history. He is both a scholar and a warrior, courageous and insightful, and at a young age, he has demonstrated a high level of ability to handle political affairs and command troops.

I'm not trying to criticize you, but every time you let Li Tai cause trouble in front of you, you send the Crown Prince over to clean up the mess.

Let's not talk about distant things, let's talk about recent things. Back then, didn't you first send Li Tai to persuade the Dangxiang to surrender?

As a result, Li Tai escaped back alone.

You then sent Li Chenggan over, which allowed you to successfully persuade the Dangxiang to surrender;

You sent Li Tai with 100,000 troops to attack Tuyuhun, and what happened? They were utterly defeated again, and Li Chengan had to clean up the mess and successfully subdue Murong Shun.

This time, in the battle against Yanqi, you again sent Li Tai with 30,000 elite troops to the Western Regions, but they fell into an ambush and suffered more than 5,000 casualties.

The Crown Prince went to the Western Regions, defeated the Yanqi army, and led his troops back to rescue Chang'an.

The Crown Prince has made great contributions, yet you arrested him and imprisoned him in the Dali Temple jail.

You're a really cruel father.

Only Lao Cheng would dare to say something like that in front of Li Shimin.

Li Shimin was not angry; his expression softened slightly. "Duke Lu, it's not that I'm heartless, but the state and court have rules. Anyone who violates them..."

Even I must punish them according to the law; Fang Xuanling was in charge of compiling the "Zhenguan Code".

What he said wasn't without merit.

If I were to turn a blind eye to Li Chengqian's unauthorized recruitment of troops, other princes would follow suit, and wouldn't the empire descend into chaos?

Upon hearing this, Cheng Yaojin waved his hand dismissively: "Don't mention that old man to me. He's all talk and no action, but he's full of wicked schemes."

All day long, he enjoys scheming against others.

He has changed.

Before the Xuanwu Gate Incident, he was a shrewd and loyal man to His Majesty. However, after the Xuanwu Gate Incident, when His Majesty became emperor, he began to scheme for his own benefit.

Although I, Lao Cheng, am a rough and unrefined man, do you think I can't see through his little scheme?

In the end, isn't he just scheming to protect his own official position?

He worried that if Li Chengqian became emperor in the future, he would give Changsun Wuji a high position and leave him out in the cold, and he would lose his position as the chief minister.

I really don't know what he's so obsessed with.

I, Old Cheng, am not even going to be the Great Virtue Emperor anymore.

What's the point of doing that? There are so many things to do all day long, doesn't he get annoyed?

I don't even know how many days I have left to live.

Cheng Yaojin had already become indifferent to fame, fortune, and glory, which was one of the reasons why Li Shimin relied on him so much.

A person who is detached from everything and has no ambition is bound to be a loyal subject.