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

Su Wan shook her head at Su Gui: "You are still too young. You don't understand anything about the things in the palace."

Since ancient times, in the imperial harem, a mother's status has always been determined by her son.

Take, for example, the women around Emperor Jing of Han.

Empress Bo had no children.

Consort Li gave birth to the eldest son of the emperor, Liu Rong, who was then made crown prince.

but,

Consort Li's thinking was too simplistic. She believed that since her son had become the crown prince, he would definitely become the emperor in the future, and she would surely be able to sit on the throne as empress.

but,

In fact, that is not the case.

Wang Zhi is the truly intelligent woman.

Wang Zhi's son was named Liu Che.

Of course, Wang Zhi hoped that her son could become the crown prince.

At that time, Liu Rong had not done anything wrong, and it was not easy to remove him from the position of crown prince.

Princess Guantao wanted to marry her daughter Chen Ajiao to Crown Prince Liu Rong.

Princess Li was furious because Princess Guantao kept sending women into the harem.

When Princess Guantao proposed marriage to her, Consort Li immediately refused.

Princess Guantao, enraged and embarrassed, turned her gaze to the tenth prince, Liu Che.

Princess Guantao approached Wang Zhi and said she wanted to marry her daughter to Liu Che.

Wang Zhi immediately agreed.

In this way, Princess Guantao and Wang Zhi formed an alliance.

Princess Guantao spoke ill of Consort Li to Emperor Jing of Han every day, and over time, Emperor Jing began to believe her.

Ultimately, Liu Rong was demoted to Prince of Linjiang, and Consort Li was deposed.

Empress Bo was also deposed because she had no son.

Liu Che became the crown prince, and Wang Zhi became the empress. Did you see that? The struggles in the harem never stopped, and they were extremely cruel—a war without gunpowder.

It's either you die or I die.

Su Gui seemed to understand something upon hearing this: "Sister, I understand what you mean."

We must do everything in our power to secure Li Chengqian's position as crown prince, to prevent Li Tai and other princes from vying for it.

Upon hearing this, Su Wan nodded.

She paced back and forth in the room, arms crossed: "You're half right. Now, because Li Tai wants to vie for the position of Crown Prince..."

The concubines in the harem have gradually split into two factions:

One faction supports Li Chengqian;

The other faction supports Li Tai.

And some remain neutral; didn't you notice?

"Sister, is it really as you say?" Su Gui asked, somewhat doubtful.

"Of course, it's absolutely true."

"So, who supports Li Chenggan, and who supports Li Tai?"

Su Wan rested her chin on her hand: "For example, Empress Zhangsun and Xu Hui supported Li Chengqian."

Consort Yan, Consort Yang, and even Princess Yang of Chao all supported Li Tai.

There are also some concubines whose stance is currently unclear.

Su Gui was taken aback: "Sister, if that's the case, then there are quite a few people supporting Li Tai."

If that's the case, wouldn't the crown prince's position be in grave danger?

"You're right. Moreover, it's hard to say whether Li Chengqian will secretly sabotage things after going to the Japanese."

Now, what's most worrying is that the Emperor seems quite dissatisfied with the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince has done so much for our Tang Dynasty.

It also lifted the siege of Chang'an.

Where can you find someone as good as the Crown Prince?

Why is the Emperor dissatisfied with him?