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

Li Yu stayed with Li Yuan, who was weeping uncontrollably, for half the evening until his grief subsided, at which point he changed the subject.

"Grandson, your archery skills are just as good as they were back then!" he said with a smile.

Li Yu's sudden praise startled Li Yuan, and the last bit of sadness in his heart vanished instantly.

"You brat, stop flattering me!"

He chuckled and cursed, then said with some regret, "When I was young, I could shoot five arrows in a row from a 1.5-stone bow. Now, even that 1.1-stone bow in the imperial armory can't be drawn to its full extent. I guess I can't deny I'm getting old!"

Seeing Li Yuan's nostalgic expression, Li Yu smiled and feigned grievance, teasingly saying, "Grandpa, you really are something else! You didn't pass on a single ounce of your excellent martial arts skills to your grandson, leaving me unable to even draw a single stone bow, and I got a good scolding from those bastards..."

"Hahaha!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yuan laughed so hard he almost fell over. It took him a long time to recover before he said, "Not only you, but even Chengqian and Qingque are not the best at martial arts. On the contrary, your father, your second uncle, and your fourth uncle are all exceptionally brave and skilled in martial arts."

Upon hearing the mention of Li Er, Li Yuan's face instantly darkened: "It's a pity your second uncle was too domineering and ambitious, committing such a treasonous act..."

At this point, he suddenly realized that it was inappropriate to say these words to Li Yu, so he immediately stopped what he was about to say.

Li Yu was listening intently when he noticed Li Yuan suddenly fall silent, so he curiously looked up.

Snapped!

The next moment, a slap landed on Li Yu's head.

Li Yu was a little dazed by the inexplicable slap, so he said with a wronged expression, "Grandpa, why did you hit me?"

"He deserves a beating!" Li Yuan scolded, raising his hand as if to strike again, which frightened Li Yu into quickly hiding to the side.

"Boy, speak quickly! Did you come here to keep me company because you were trying to get information out of your rebellious second uncle, the Emperor?!"

Li Yu, already looking aggrieved, felt even more wronged upon hearing Li Yuan's words. "How dare I try to trick you! I just saw you were looking downcast, so I came to keep you company..."

"Is that really the case?"

"You're wronging me! How could I dare to lie to you!" Li Yu said, almost crying with grievance.

"Ugh!"

Li Yuan stared at Li Yu for a long time, and finding that his expression did not seem to be fake, he sighed and waved his hand: "So be it, so be it, it's all my own doing..."

At this point, he patted Li Yu on the shoulder, "Don't blame me. Being born into an imperial family is like this. The word 'loyalty' is the most undesirable thing. Ultimately, it's because I, as the founding emperor, have failed in my duty..."

"Grandpa, you are mistaken!"

Unable to bear Li Yuan's bitter and resentful appearance, Li Yu grew bolder: "If it weren't for your concern for loyalty and righteousness, how would I have the opportunity to stay here with you and let you listen to my nonsense?"

After saying that, he ignored Li Yuan's expression and continued, "I think that Second Uncle is not wrong, Eldest Uncle is not wrong, and you are not wrong either."

Li Yuan was completely bewildered by Li Yu's words, so he asked curiously, "Then tell me, if none of us are at fault, who is?"

"No one is at fault!" Li Yu's deceptive words flowed effortlessly. "Now that things have come to this, I think it's pointless to dwell on who's at fault. The most urgent thing is to bring peace to the world!"

At this moment, Li Yuan, already somewhat drunk, was stunned by Li Yu's passionate, pyramid-scheme-like speech and involuntarily wanted to respond, "How can the world be at peace?"

Upon hearing this, Li Yu shook his head like a deflated balloon: "I'm just a child, how could I know anything about governing a country?"

As he spoke, he turned his gaze to the First Emperor's Mausoleum below the mountain and said, "However, when I was young, I followed that wandering Taoist priest and saw him compose a poem. Although I remember it vividly, I have never understood its meaning."

"A poem? Read it aloud!"

Because he had sent people to search for Li Yu many times, but to no avail, Li Yuan had always been deeply suspicious about the existence of the wandering Taoist he spoke of. Now, hearing Li Yu say this, his curiosity was greatly aroused.

Upon hearing this, Li Yu began to rack his brains to recall the texts he had memorized in his student days. After pondering for a full quarter of an hour, he slowly began to speak: "The Taoist priest said that when he was traveling, he saw the Epang Palace reduced to ashes, and thus wrote this poem: 'The six kings were defeated, the four seas were unified, the Shu Mountains were leveled, and the Epang Palace arose. Covering more than three hundred li, it blocked out the sun and sky. It stretched northward from Mount Li and then turned westward, heading straight for Xianyang. The two rivers flowed gently...'"

Li Yu continued reciting until he reached the line: "The people of Qin had no time to mourn their own fate, yet later generations mourned them; if later generations mourned them but did not learn from their mistakes, they would only cause later generations to mourn again." Only then did he stop.

Li Yuan, who had just heard him recite it, was so surprised that his mouth dropped open.

After a long silence, he finally asked, "Was this really written by the Taoist priest who abducted you?"

Li Yu nodded outwardly, but inwardly he hoped that Du Mu would not live in his shadow.

Just as Li Yuan was about to say something, he suddenly thought of his current situation and couldn't help but feel somewhat frustrated: "Boy, you shouldn't ask me about these things."

"Grandfather was the founding emperor of the nation. Did he not wish to see this empire last for thousands of generations?" Li Yu asked, puzzled.

Li Yuan shook his head: "Your second uncle holds the reins of power now, and the empire will eventually be handed over to him. What the future holds is beyond my control..."

"Don't you want to lend your second uncle a hand?" Li Yu continued to ask.

"Heh!" Li Yuan chuckled bitterly. "Right now, I and he are still in a state of conflict."

Upon hearing this, Li Yu laughed and lowered his voice, saying, "Grandpa, I have a way to give your second uncle a way out, and at the same time, you yourself can also save face!"

Upon hearing Li Yu's words, Li Yuan immediately became interested and asked, "What method do you have?"

"Change the country's name!" Li Yu said decisively.

"The name of the country?" Li Yuan asked, somewhat puzzled. "How could that possibly help Erlang?"

Upon hearing this, Li Yu looked around and, seeing that no one was around, leaned close to Li Yuan's ear and whispered something.

"Boy, can you really do that?" After hearing Li Yu's whisper, Li Yuan couldn't help but show a hint of doubt on his face.

Li Yu patted his chest and assured him, "How could I dare to deceive the emperor? Don't worry, my second uncle has the same intention!"

.........

"Boy, what did you and your grandfather talk about last night? Why do I feel that His Majesty is acting strangely today?" Sitting in the carriage, Li Xuanba looked at his son with curiosity.

"It's nothing, I just told my grandfather how to reconcile him and my second uncle!" Li Yu said casually.

Upon hearing this, Li Xuanba was greatly alarmed: "Boy, you can't do anything reckless!"

"Father, don't worry, your son..." Li Yu said before he could finish.

At that moment, a loud voice rang out from outside the carriage.

"Report! Great victory at Hulao Pass! His Highness the Crown Prince led 3,000 Xuanjia soldiers and utterly defeated an enemy force of 100,000!"

.........