Tang Dynasty: Starting at Xuanwu Gate, this prince is better off not being one.

Having achieved his goal, Li Yu immediately bowed and expressed his gratitude.

After all, there aren't many opportunities to trick Li Er, so it doesn't matter what he gives him, as long as he gives him something.

Once Li Er ascends to the throne, this will be a genuine imperial gift, and its price will increase dozens of times over.

.........

Li Er praised him for a long time, saying things like how clever he was, how he saved Zhijie's son, and how he became Lao Sun's apprentice...

Li Er never mentioned salt production.

Li Yu didn't believe that Niu Jinda's letter hadn't mentioned such an important matter. However, when he saw the eunuch wearing a tall hat and waiting to the side, he instantly understood, and at the same time, his heart tightened.

As expected, what was bound to happen will happen, and nothing will be missing.

As the sun rose higher, the eunuch beside him, seeing that it was almost time, finally spoke: "His Majesty decreed that the three princes had encountered misfortune, which greatly worried me. Now that they have returned safely, I have summoned the Prince of Qin and the Prince of Zhao, along with the three imperial grandsons, to the Taiji Palace..."

After the imperial edict was read, the old eunuch's voice was very loud and clear, completely different from the soft-voiced eunuchs in movies and TV dramas...

After receiving the imperial decree and seeing off the old eunuch, Li Er instructed his men to let them go home on their own.

For some reason, Li Yu always felt that Li Er's complexion was not good.

.........

Finally, I saw the city wall of Chang'an from a thousand years ago!

However, when he stood under the city gate and looked at the three large characters "Fanghua Gate" above it, his expectations vanished instantly.

Unlike the city walls of Chang'an that I had seen in later generations, the city gate in front of me was nothing but "earth" except for its magnificence.

Because it was all made of rammed earth, the entire city wall had an earthy gray color, making it look extremely monotonous.

Looking at the excited teenagers, Li Yu thought that such a magnificent city wall should at least be covered with a layer of tiles...

Unlike Li Yu, Wenren An was so shocked by the sight of Chang'an that he was speechless.

Although his father, Wenren Si'an, was a prefect, he never visited Chang'an once because he was a member of the Green Forest gang.

So when his father described the glory of Chang'an to him, he was always dismissive.

He had witnessed the prosperity of Suzhou himself, and had even secretly visited Wang Shichong's Luoyang. Therefore, in his mind, Chang'an, no matter how prosperous, was comparable to these two cities.

But now, standing beneath the city walls, he noticed that even the city walls were much higher than those of other cities…

Looking up at the towering city gate made his neck ache. He could hardly imagine how magnificent Chang'an, which his father had described as having "nine layers of palaces in a magnificent array," must be.

.........

They successfully entered the imperial city with the group.

The military commander guarding the city gate was so frightened by the sight of the two princes' entourage that he didn't dare to breathe and simply let them pass.

He ordered someone to invite Sun Simiao into the Prince's residence, and Wenren An and Luyi were also sent there together.

In an instant, the once lively procession was reduced to just the Li and Yu families.

As they entered the imperial city's passageway, Li Chengqian mysteriously approached Li Yu and asked, "Little Yu, haven't you noticed something's off?"

"Is something wrong? Is it because your father doesn't look well?" Hearing Li Chengqian say this, Li Yu also noticed that the atmosphere was a bit strange.

Seeing that none of the adults were paying attention to them, Li Chengqian leaned closer and said, "Let me tell you, Grandfather sent someone to summon only a few of us to the palace. This is to tell Father not to investigate this matter any further!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yu suddenly realized why Li Er's face was so gloomy.

Since the emperor knew who was behind this incident, and did not want Li Er to pursue it further, this was clearly an attempt to protect the crown prince and the Prince of Qi.

Not to mention Li Er, even I myself felt somewhat unhappy at this moment.

With such skillful use of checks and balances, it's no wonder that Li Yuan retired so early in history.

.........

Upon arriving at the entrance of Taiji Palace, after the eunuch who had been notified went inside, Li Yu noticed that Li Er was looking at him, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.

Just as they were about to hear what Li Er had to say, the eunuch who had come to announce their arrival came out from inside.

"Gentlemen, His Majesty requests your presence!"

Quietly regaining his composure, Li Er nodded to the eunuch. Just before entering the room, he gave Li Yu a deep look from an angle unseen by others.

Li Yu felt a chill run down his spine from that glance, but with so many people around, he could only pretend nothing was wrong and follow the others inside...

Upon entering the Taiji Hall, Li Yu discovered that Li Yuan was not the only one sitting there.

The emperor was naturally seated at the head of the table, and Li Yu had never seen the unfamiliar faces sitting on either side of him.

What surprised Li Yu the most was that, besides the two people, there was also an unfamiliar old man sitting at the lowest seat with a jade cup in his hand. When he saw the group of people come in, he immediately put down the jade cup and stood up.

Led by Li Er, they first paid their respects to the emperor, and then bowed slightly to the middle-aged man on the left.

After the middle-aged man nodded slightly, the man on the right also stood up and greeted Li Er and the other man with a smile.

Perhaps it was because he was so ugly, but Li Yu always felt that this person's smile was malicious.

However, based on the order of greetings, Li Yu roughly guessed the identities of the two men—the one sitting on the left was Crown Prince Li Jiancheng, and the one sitting on the right should be Li Yuanji.

Having finally managed to deal with the tedious formalities, the old man sitting at the lower end of the table approached again: "This old minister, Pei Ji, greets Your Highnesses! Greetings to the young princes!"

Is he Pei Ji?

Upon hearing this name, Li Yu finally understood why the old man was here.

Li Yu knew this person. He had a close relationship with Li Yuan before Li Yuan became emperor. Li Yuan was involved in urging Li Er to start his rebellion and in persuading Li Yuan to become emperor.

Aside from lacking military talent, this man was arguably Li Yuan's biggest henchman.

Following Li Chengqian's example, Li Yuan returned the greeting, then beckoned, "Qian'er, Qingque'er, come here! Come to your imperial grandfather!"

Looking around, he saw Li Chengqian and Li Tai say "Yes" and then jogged over to sit down, leaving Li Yu standing there dumbfounded.

"You are my grandson, Li Yu?"

Although he heard him call him his grandson, Li Yu couldn't detect any emotion in his voice.

"Your Majesty, it is indeed me." The reply was very respectful, but the humble yet assertive attitude made Li Er and Li Xuanba both break out in a cold sweat for Li Yu.

"Good lad!" Li Yuan, sitting at the head of the table, suddenly shouted, making everyone present jump.

But then he burst into laughter again, "Good! Good! You do have some of the spirit of the Li family!"

Upon hearing this, everyone present breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Yu remained expressionless, but inwardly he thought: Your Li family has done everything from killing brothers and robbing brothers' wives to forcing your father to rape your sister-in-law and sleep with your stepmother. So what kind of integrity do you have left?

Later generations all called Tang the Turtle, but Li Yu, though also surnamed Li, would rather die than be that green-haired turtle...

.........