Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 5255 People’s hearts are unpredictable
Li Shen swallowed the mutton in his mouth, raised his wine cup and said, "Come, come, let me toast Fifth Brother. This time, it is all thanks to Fifth Brother's ingenious plan and strategic thinking that we were able to obtain this sum of money. We have no way to repay your deep affection and can only express it in this wine. We only hope that our brotherhood will last forever and will not diminish in the slightest because of the separation of us from all over the world."

Upon hearing this, the atmosphere at the table immediately cooled down, and the brothers looked at each other, their spirits dampened.

In the past, there may have been disagreements and conflicts among us, but we were still brothers by blood, seeing each other all the time, so our kinship was never lacking. But from now on, the brothers will be going out to sea to take up their fiefdoms and establish their own states. They will not be able to leave their fiefdoms unless necessary, and they will be like dandelions in the mountains, drifting away with the wind, and they will probably never see each other again in this lifetime.

An overwhelming sense of sadness quickly spread.

Li You's expression turned somber for a moment, then he sighed: "Although the separation of brothers is regrettable and sad, we must also consider how many princes throughout history have been able to go to their fiefdoms and establish their own states like us? Rather than being confined to Chang'an like a caged bird, living a life of wealth and privilege as a prince, it would be better to go to a remote and impoverished place and live a carefree and happy life on your own!"

Li Yin slammed his wine cup down heavily, his expression rough and full of dissatisfaction: "A true man's ambition lies in the four seas. If you have the ability, you can expand your territory and establish your own country. If you don't have the ability, you can still enjoy wealth and happiness within your fiefdom. Why bother with all this nagging and whining? You're just like a woman!"

Li You retorted angrily, "Am I being sentimental? I'm saddened by the separation of my brothers and I value family ties! If I were a woman, you should return all that money and go ask them for it yourself!"

"Fifth Brother, that's not what I meant at all! Alright, I misspoke, I'll punish myself with three cups!"

Li Yin quickly smiled apologetically, then picked up the wine jar and poured himself three cups.

Li You snatched the wine jar back from his hand and said irritably, "If you want to drink, this is not the way to drink. You've already swallowed all this good wine!"

The brothers burst into laughter.

Li Yun ate meat and drank until his face was flushed. He admired Li You immensely: "I only knew that Fifth Brother was loyal before, but now I know that Fifth Brother is also incredibly wise and resourceful! It's one thing to manipulate public opinion so that the princes-in-law have no choice but to give us money and silk, but the move to turn Cheng Chuliang against us was a stroke of genius. It shattered the princes-in-law's alliance in one blow, and no one dared to lag behind. He is truly amazing!"

The fact that the princes' sons-in-law formed an alliance in private was actually a brilliant move. Even if they had to give gifts to the princes, as long as they acted in unison, they could control the amount of the gifts. When all the princes' sons-in-law were only giving "a token gesture," who could say anything about it?
However, Cheng Chuliang betrayed them, stabbing them in the back and shattering all the prince consorts' plans.

Perhaps Cheng Chuliang's "piling up the bank" alone cannot affect the overall situation, and the other princes can still stick together... But who can guarantee that there is only one Cheng Chuliang?

Cheng Chuliang can betray someone, and so can anyone else.

If one person in the group betrays the "team" for one reason or another and arbitrarily increases the amount of the donation, everyone else will be caught in a huge vortex, and the situation will be reversed.

"Hehe, it's just a little trick, Seventh Brother, there's no need to make such a fuss. Stay calm."

Li You was extremely pleased with himself. In any case, Fang Jun, who was devising the plan behind the scenes, would definitely not want to be exposed by him, so he naturally accepted Li Yun's praise and admiration with a smile.
He had always been the one who was disliked, hated, and ostracized since childhood, but now he was surrounded by a group of brothers who praised and flattered him, making him feel intoxicated and as if he were floating on clouds.

Li Zhen, who had been drinking, suddenly asked, "This time, the prince consorts presented us princes with gifts, but why did they ignore Zhi Nu?"

In this enfeoffment and establishment of states, apart from Li Ke and Li Tai who had already taken up their fiefs, there were seven others: the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, and thirteenth. Only the youngest, Cao Wang Li Ming, was still too young to be included in the plan.

However, the princes-in-law prepared six sets of travel gifts, including Prince Zhao, Li Fu, but notably absent was Prince Jin, Li Zhi…

Just because Princess Jinyang gave Li Zhi a gift doesn't mean others don't need to give gifts either, right?

Li You was taken aback: "Are you really that clueless, or are you just pretending?"

Li Zhen looked bewildered: "I really don't understand, why is that?"

Li You shook his head speechlessly, glanced at Li Yun beside him, and pointed at Li Zhen: "You teach this idiot a lesson!"

Looking into Li Zhen's clear, foolish eyes, Li Yun sighed. This brother, aside from causing trouble, was utterly brainless. In terms of being muddleheaded and absurd, he was even worse than the "beast" Li Yin...

“How can we compare the Zhinu to us? No matter how little the princes give us, at most we will only be branded as ‘selfish, stingy and aloof.’ But if we give it to the Zhinu, we will bear huge risks. It may sound good in name now, but if the Zhinu raises a flag of rebellion in his fiefdom, establishes his own state, or even breaks away from the Tang Dynasty in the future, today’s gift may become evidence of ‘aiding the enemy’ in the future.”

Zhinu, the brother, was rebellious by nature. He was ambitious even when the late emperor was alive. He seemed obedient and respectful to his brothers, but in reality, he had long coveted the position of crown prince. Li Tai openly competed for the throne, causing a great uproar in the court and the country. However, Zhinu's actions in secret never stopped. Otherwise, why would the late emperor have repeatedly considered making him the crown prince, given his status as the youngest legitimate son?

When Your Majesty ascended the throne, it was ostensibly due to the coercion and threats of Changsun Wuji that you were forced to "join the rebellion" and raise an army to rebel, but who can say for sure what the truth was now?
If they still covet the throne while in Chang'an, how can we be sure they won't harbor thoughts of "murdering the emperor" once they are sent to a foreign land and granted fiefdoms?
At the very least, among all the princes who were enfeoffed overseas and established their own states, the one with the highest probability of breaking away from the Tang Dynasty and rebelling was Prince Li Zhi of Jin...

The princes-in-law weren't stupid either; under such circumstances, who would dare to send money to Li Zhi?

Li You nodded in agreement with Li Yun's words: "Just wait and see. When we go to sea, the Grand Commandant will exchange some of the money and silk for provisions and supplies. He will also give us a share, but Zhi Nu will definitely not get a share."

Li Yun sighed, his expression somewhat somber: "Not only will we not receive any provisions or supplies, but we'll wait and see. Zhinu's fiefdom is on an island in the south, which will be a key area for the navy to monitor. We don't need to panic if news of Zhinu's death comes one day."

Li Zhen was shocked: "This...this...this can't be true, can it?"

Having already been sent to their fiefdoms at sea, it meant that they would have virtually no chance of returning to Chang'an in this lifetime and posed no threat to the throne. Furthermore, although the islands in the south were vast, they were poor in resources, sparsely populated, and inhabited by primitive, uncivilized natives. Even if the Qin rulers harbored rebellious intentions and rose in revolt, they would not be able to overcome the naval hurdle alone. To defeat the navy, control the sea, launch a counterattack on the mainland, and then capture Chang'an... Compared to this, Li Zhen was more inclined to believe that the sun would rise in the west tomorrow morning.

Since there is no possibility of it posing a threat to Chang'an, let it rule as king on the southern island. Why should we harm Zhinu's life?

Li You glanced at him and snorted: "Do you really think that Your Majesty's display of some 'generosity' and 'benevolence' means that the brothers are respectful and the affection will last forever? How naive! The saying 'there are no fathers and sons in the imperial family' is not just a casual remark. No emperor can tolerate any crisis that threatens the throne, even if there is only the slightest possibility of it."

"Hey, hey, Fifth Brother, watch your words!"

Li Yun, covered in sweat, complained, "Are you drunk? Why are you saying all sorts of things? Be careful, the walls may have ears!"

You yourself know that "there are no fathers and sons in the imperial family," so how dare you talk nonsense?

We're about to leave Chang'an, and we can't let ourselves be imprisoned like caged birds because of some drunken words...

Li You, likely fueled by the alcohol, not only ignored advice but also glared at them, saying, "We're all brothers here. What 'walls have ears'? Who would dare spread these words around?"

Li Yun said angrily, "Fifth Brother has really gone mad! Fine, you all continue here, I can't hold my liquor, so I'll take my leave first."

After saying this, he got up and left in a huff, ignoring his brothers' attempts to persuade him to stay.

Li Zhen's eyes darted around, and she also stood up: "Seventh Brother is probably drunk, I'll go see him off."

They quickly followed Li Yun's figure and left.

Li Yin, Li Shen, and Li Fu exchanged glances and stood up together: "It's getting late, and everyone has had enough to drink, so let's take our leave."

Li You rolled his eyes and waved casually, "Go, go! We'll meet again when it's time to say goodbye, you bunch of boring people!"

The three did not argue and left one after another.

The lively and enthusiastic atmosphere at the dinner table suddenly became quiet, while the broth in the hot pot bubbled and boiled, with white steam rising into the air.

Li You wiped his face, realizing what was happening, and slapped his forehead: "Damn it! Could someone really have gone to complain to His Majesty?"

Don't be fooled by the praise and admiration his brothers showed him earlier; none of these brothers, big or small, are pushovers.

Li Yun reminded himself that instead of realizing his mistake in time, he blamed Li Yun...

The cold sweat instantly poured down his forehead from the wine he drank. When he came to his senses, he was filled with regret and fear.

*****
The next morning, after washing up and having breakfast in his palace, Li Chengqian put on a cloak and went out to the imperial study. He had just sat down to deal with Wen Gong when he heard an attendant announce that Li Junxian was requesting an audience. Li Chengqian waved his hand to summon him, put down his brush, walked out from behind the imperial desk, and stood by the window looking at the courtyard where the snow had been cleared.

Li Junxian strode inside, placed a copied document on the imperial desk, and then approached Li Chengqian from behind, bowing slightly as he said, "Last night, the six princes gathered at the Qi Prince's residence. During the lively banquet, the Qi Prince made some inappropriate remarks..."

He then quietly relayed Li Youzhi's words to him.

Li Chengqian stood by the window with his hands behind his back. Upon hearing this, he sighed softly, "Even my brothers look at me like this, which shows what the others are thinking... I'm afraid that Zhinu will become the target of everyone's criticism when he goes to sea to take up his fiefdom."