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

"Alright! Stop with the nonsense and get to the point!"

Li Yu scratched his head, looking embarrassed, and said, "I heard that my grandfather is going to bestow a marriage upon me, so..."

"What? You're not satisfied?" Li Yuan interrupted, glaring at him.

Li Yu thought to himself, "If I could be satisfied, why would I bother with you?" But on the surface, he gave a forced smile and said, "Grandpa Emperor is wise and insightful. The marriage he has arranged for me is naturally good. However, I am still young, and it is too early for me to consider such things..."

"What do you mean 'early'?" Li Yuan slapped Li Yu on the back of the head and scolded, "Your father only has one son, if you don't worry about him now, when will you?"

"..."

"Then you should choose someone else. The Dugu family's daughter is, after all, her grandson's cousin. Although they're not within the five degrees of kinship, the relationship is still a bit too close..."

Just as he finished complaining, Li Yu noticed that Li Yuan's shrewd eyes were gradually narrowing. He then realized that he had just praised the old man for his keen insight, so he immediately explained, "Of course, it's all my fault for not thinking things through..."

Seeing that Li Yu had cut his losses in time, Li Yuan chuckled and said, "Tell me, how did you fail to consider things properly?"

Unable to find an excuse for the moment, Li Yu could only bring up his grandfather again: "Some time ago, my grandfather and I discussed the matter of blood ties and found that even if people have different surnames, if their blood ties are too deep, they can still give birth to a mentally challenged child. This is a disease, which is what people often call 'divine retribution'."

"Oh?"

Seeing that Li Yu spoke with great conviction, Li Yuan immediately became interested: "According to you, the punishment for promiscuity within the Five Blessings is not divine retribution, but a strange illness?"

Li Yu nodded and began to explain: "Grandpa, the ancients used the concept of Yin and Yang: daytime is Yang, belonging to the father; nighttime is Yin, belonging to the mother. This means that the appearance of children may resemble their parents because the time of conception and birth corresponds to Yin and Yang."

"Therefore, children are born from the union of the yin and yang of their parents, each contributing half of their bloodline. Thus, even cousins ​​should be considered within the five degrees of mourning. In medicine, children born to those with closely related bloodlines are often short-lived. As for the so-called marriage between cousins, considered a strengthening of kinship, that's pure nonsense!"

Seeing that Li Yu didn't seem to be talking nonsense, Li Yuan became serious as well: "Throughout history, children born to cousins ​​have rarely suffered divine retribution. How do you explain this?"

"Isn't that simple?" Li Yu stroked his chin and replied, "It's always been like this. As long as the child is outside the five degrees of kinship, even if a mentally challenged child is born, it will eventually be covered up with reasons like incompatible fates, incompatible birth charts, being frightened in the womb, bad feng shui, or retribution for heavy sins committed by ancestors. In addition, many clans rarely record this matter in order to save face, so naturally you haven't heard of it much..."

These words silenced Li Yuan, who sat down and began to ponder Li Yu's words.

In truth, Li Yuan wouldn't have believed Li Yu's story if it were just his side of the story. After all, while others wouldn't dare to spout nonsense, Li Yu was used to talking nonsense in front of him, so he would most likely assume that what Li Yu said was just something the boy made up to reject him. However, Li Yu mentioned Sun Simiao in this matter, whose character was well-known in the Tang Dynasty, which made him wonder if the matter was really as Li Yu said.

After a long silence, Li Yuan finally spoke: "I will investigate this matter myself. As for the marriage agreement, boy, you cannot escape it!"

At this point, Li Yuan immediately transformed into an elder urging his family to get married, chuckling as he said, "It's fine if you don't want to marry the youngest daughter of the Dugu family, but you still have to choose one from other families."

After saying that, he seemed to have no idea who to choose, so he said, "As for who to choose, I will draft a blank imperial edict of marriage, and your second uncle and father will discuss it then. As for you, you cannot make such a decision."

Li Yu ultimately couldn't escape the arranged marriage, especially after Li Yuan's final words, "You can't make the decision yourself," which left him with a bitter expression.

"Grandson understands..."

*Snap!*

Li Yuan slapped Li Yu on the back of the head, who looked utterly unwilling: "You brat! You probably don't know what a huge reward this is for others! And you're still unwilling?"

After being struck, Li Yu's face twitched. He said, "Grandson thanks His Majesty!" and then fled from Taiji Palace as if escaping...

.........

For the next few days, Li Yu stayed in the Prince's Mansion in a depressed mood and refused to go out. Even when Li Chengqian and Changsun Chong came to see him, Li Yu would send them away with his usual excuse.

The ever-philandering Changsun Chong, seeing Li Yu's state, shamelessly comforted him, saying, "What's there to be upset about? It's just getting married. Your parents will arrange it, so just deal with it casually. As the heir apparent of the Prince of Zhao, why would you worry about not finding a beautiful woman?"

After saying that, he couldn't resist teasing Green Dress: "I think Green Dress is a pretty good girl..."

"Alright..."

Seeing the girl in green run off blushing, Li Yu glared at Changsun Chong: "You think everyone's like you, flirting with countless women at such a young age? I have no interest in that..."

Upon hearing this, Changsun Chong immediately shifted his body, staring at Li Yu with a strange expression: "I heard an old monk say that you are very interested in those handsome young monks, especially that one named Xuanzang. Could it be that what he said is true?"

"Get lost!" Li Yu's face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot: "That old bald monk Dao Yue is such a petty bastard. I only tricked him a little, and he's held a grudge for so long."

"A little trick?" Changsun Chong said incredulously. "You tricked their disciple into eating sand in the desert, and you're not even allowed to make fun of you?"

Speaking of this, Li Yu suddenly remembered that Xuanzang had already left.

It must be said that, in terms of efficiency alone, those bald monks were truly unparalleled. Shortly after Li Er set off on his expedition, Xuanzang came to him as promised.

Li Yu was originally worried that this guy wouldn't agree so quickly, after all, Xuanzang in history only made this decision in the third year of Zhenguan. But he didn't expect that before the agreed day had arrived, he would come to him so impatiently.

In response, Li Yu not only obtained the necessary documents for him but also provided him with ample travel expenses. However, this stubborn fellow ultimately refused all the money.

Therefore, Li Yu wasn't very confident that Xuanzang could overcome all the dangers and finally return to the Tang Dynasty as he had in history, after all, Xuanzang was still too young at this time...

Just as he was hesitating whether to go to Dajue Temple with Changsun Chong to settle accounts with that old bald monk Daoyue, a gust of wind suddenly pushed the door open, and Li Chengqian excitedly rushed in.

"Little Fish, my father is back!"

.........