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

"What! You've even learned to go to brothels?"

As soon as he entered the door, Li Xuanba, whose ear was being pulled by his wife, lashed out at Li Yu, thinking that this would allow him to escape being questioned.

"Hey, what are you doing!"

Just as his anger surged to the top of his head, he felt the hand gripping his ear tighten its grip.

"What?" Dugu Jin sneered, "Stop putting on airs. You still haven't told me what you went to the brothel for?"

"I?"

Li Xuanba's ear was being pulled painfully, so he shook off his wife's hand and said urgently, "I was discussing national policy!"

"Discussing national policy?"

Dugu Jin sneered again: "Discuss national policies in a brothel?"

"What do you, a mere woman, know?" Seeing his wife's disbelief, Li Xuanba explained, "Henan and Hebei have only recently been pacified, and the people are still filled with resentment. In particular, King Dou Jiande of Xia is deeply loved by the people in Hebei. If we deal with him rashly, I'm afraid Hebei will not be peaceful in the future."

"Besides, my elder brother is currently in the main camp and has no time to handle state affairs, and my father has no interest in ruling. If I, as a prince, don't worry about it, who will?"

Seeing her husband speak with such confidence, Dugu Jin was at a loss for what to do.

After a long silence, she finally turned her attention to Li Yu: "Tell me, why did you go to the brothel?"

When it was his turn, Li Yu was taken aback at first, then stole a glance at Li Xuanba and said with a forced smile, "I went to the brothel... naturally to listen to Father discuss national policies."

"What! You heard everything?" Li Xuanba straightened up immediately.

But the next moment, he relaxed and waved his hand: "Alright, alright, since you heard everything, your father won't hide it from you. His Majesty intends to arrange a marriage for you. What do you think?"

"What!?"

Almost simultaneously, Li Yu and Dugu Jin exclaimed in surprise.

"But His Majesty arranged this himself? And which young lady is he referring to?" Dugu Jin was overjoyed at this moment.

If this is true, then this is a marriage arranged by imperial decree. In this way, regardless of the woman's background, once it is a marriage bestowed by the emperor, her status will instantly become noble, and no one will dare to look down on her.

Moreover, this was His Majesty's personal arrangement before his abdication, which was a declaration to the world: I still value this son with the broken leg; he has not fallen out of favor. Not only will he not be mistreated after the new emperor ascends the throne, but it also serves as a plea to Li Er: You only have this one brother from the same mother; you must treat him well…

"Isn't this ridiculous?!" came the reply from Li Yu.

Unlike Dugu Jin, Li Yu's face was full of resistance.

Putting aside the fact that I'm only twelve years old this year, it's too early to think about these things. Just considering my modern mindset, if I were to marry a woman I've never even met, what if she turned out to be a powerful and ruthless woman? Wouldn't I be at a huge loss?

"An arranged marriage? This is no joke!"

Li Xuanba chuckled and said, "Your imperial grandfather intends to betroth your uncle Dugu Zun's second daughter, Dugu Wan, to you. Kid, that's a tremendous favor!"

"Your mother and I have watched your cousin grow up, so her character is beyond reproach. As for her looks, just look at your mother. Tsk tsk, do you think you'd be at a disadvantage?"

Li Xuanba's words made Dugu Jin blush, while Li Yu's face twitched.

Although Dugu Jin wasn't his biological mother, his uncle was still his uncle! Let him marry his cousin? Li Yu didn't want to have a silly child who only drooled all day...

.........

"Young Master, where are you going?"

Inside the bedchamber, seeing Li Yu anxiously about to leave, the woman in green asked him with concern.

"I need to go to the Taiji Palace to persuade my imperial grandfather to quickly rescind his decree of marriage!"

"Arranged marriage?"

Upon hearing this, the man in green seemed to skip a beat, but he quickly regained his composure and exclaimed with delight, "Young Master, His Majesty's bestowal of marriage is an incredible blessing! How could you...?"

"It can't be explained in a sentence or two." Li Yu shook his head, then said, "Green Robe, go find Lai Fu and tell him to prepare the horse immediately. Young Master is going to the palace!"

.........

It was already evening when they arrived at Taiji Palace. Li Yu led his horse along the passageway.

The palace walls stretch endlessly, the blue bricks as hard as iron. Since Li Yuan stopped attending to state affairs, the palace has become less noisy and more tranquil.

Ever since he lost Xu Jingzong's horse, he never dared to tie it to the palace gate again. Instead, he tied the rope to a stone hitching post on one side of the Taiji Gate Square, and Li Yu instructed Lai Fu to wait there.

"Boy, what brings you here? Have you brought me some strange little gadgets again?"

Li Yu could hear the sound of Li Yuan playing mahjong from afar, so he didn't rush to answer.

After paying his respects to Li Yuan, he naturally sat down in a chair next to him.

"I was afraid you'd be bored, so I came to visit you," Li Yu said with a smile.

Sitting opposite Li Yuan was Pei Ji. Although the old man didn't get along with Li Er, he wouldn't involve the young Li Yu.

"Your Highness serves Your Majesty with utmost sincerity and respect, truly embodying the virtues of imperial filial piety! In that case, we shall take our leave!"

After saying that, Pei Ji, with a big smile on his face, was about to get up.

"Sit down! Play this game with me before you leave."

Li Yuan raised his hand, signaling Pei Ji and the other two senior officials to ignore Li Yu and sit down to continue fighting.

"Your Majesty, we obey!" the three replied in unison.

"..."

Li Yu tactfully left the table and went to sit in a secluded corner.

He didn't want to watch Li Yuan play mahjong with others; that would be torture for him.

"Your Highness!"

Because Li Yu came frequently, the palace maids would bring him tea without anyone asking.

"Um."

Li Yu nodded to the maid, who had delicate features and wore a pale yellow gauze dress. After seeing Li Yu nod, she bowed and withdrew.

Li Yu glanced at the maid's barely concealed body beneath her gauze dress, then quickly averted his gaze. It was obvious what had happened here before the card game began…

After waiting for an unknown amount of time, Li Yuan's voice finally came from the other side.

"Hey kid, come here, what's up?"

Li Yu, who was half asleep, was startled awake by the greeting. He looked up and saw Li Yuan looking at him, so he walked over with a grin.

"I'm here to keep you company, kid. Look at your card-playing buddies, what fun is there in playing with them..."

That's true. After learning the rules of mahjong from Li Yu, Li Yuan enthusiastically invited several old ministers to play mahjong with him. They played for several days without losing a single game, which made him think he was a gambling expert.

One day, Li Yu happened to come to Taiji Palace, and together with Li Yuan and the old ministers, they started a card game. At the card table, Li Yu dominated, not only winning all the gold brought by the old ministers, but also losing all the money that Li Yuan had won recently.

After that, Li Yuan never allowed Li Yu to gamble again, and Li Yu understood that the emperor was not someone to be robbed of...

.........