Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 32 Seeds of Unrest

In the 14th year of Zhenguan, Li Xiaogong, a famous general of the Tang Dynasty royal family, died of a sudden illness while drinking at home. He was 50 years old.

At least that's what the history books record.

When Li Ming heard the news, his mind buzzed.

For no reason, the kind words "our daring little prince" rang in my ears.

The elder who was still full of energy in the morning was only alive for a few hours.

The next time I heard from him, it was news of his death...

Li Ming felt a sense of unreality.

But when he thought of the body that was damaged by alcohol and sex, he felt again.

It's fine to leave this world in such a hurry.

At least I've been here, seen it, and had fun.

"The Prince of Hejian is a man of great military strategy and wisdom. I, your teacher, will go and see him off." Fang Xuanling slowly stood up and looked directly at Li Mingdao:

"What about you? If you leave the palace to pay respects to your elders, I believe Wei Dianqian will not make things difficult for you."

Wei Daijia whistled while looking at the scenery.

This is a breakthrough in the house arrest order... Li Ming understood something and was about to agree.

Someone gently grabbed my sleeve from behind.

Looking back, it was an unexpected yet reasonable old friend.

"Brother Ming, I feel...something is not right." Di Renjie spoke in a low voice, with his head lowered, not daring to meet Fang Xuanling's gaze.

But he still insisted on expressing his opinion.

"Don't go, there's something fishy about this."

Fang Xuanling said nothing and did not interfere with Li Ming's decision.

Li Ming was puzzled:

"In broad daylight, in the palace, how could someone harm me in public?"

If it weren't for the fact that the guy's name was "Di Renjie", he would have rushed over long ago.

"It's too hasty to announce the funeral." Di Renjie said in a serious tone:
"When a commoner dies, the body is kept for at least three days. But when a prince dies, the funeral is held on the same day. Is this..."

Does it feel a bit like urging you to get going?
Li Ming folded his arms.

Di Renjie's doubts are not unreasonable.

But before making a decision, don't just listen to one side of the story.

He looked at his teacher inquiringly.

Fang Xuanling did not think for a moment and answered fluently:
"I am the left servant of the Shangshu Province. When the prince passed away, the people in the palace naturally informed me of the death as soon as possible.

"The Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Imperial Clan Affairs are in charge of the funeral. You should ask them about the specific procedures for the funeral."

"Woo..." Di Renjie was scared.

Not to mention Xiao Di himself, even if you tied up his father and grandfather together, they might not dare to breathe loudly in front of Prime Minister Fang.

Li Ming looked at Di Renjie, stood on tiptoe and patted his shoulder, unable to help but smile:

"Renjie, what do you think?"

God knows how much he wants to play this joke.

Di Renjie was touched by Mingge's warm (?) smile, and for no reason he felt full of courage, and expressed his guess:

"The time, the time doesn't match."

time?

"It is now the end of the Wei hour (around 3 p.m.), and the morning's enthronement ceremony will end in the latter half of the Si hour (10 to 11 a.m.). The roads in the capital are congested, and it will take at least another half an hour to travel from the Imperial Ancestral Temple to the Prince's Mansion."

Di Renjie's thinking is very clear:

"That is to say, even if the Prince of Hejian did not attend social events after the ceremony, did not say goodbye to His Majesty and the ministers, but returned home immediately, drank as soon as he got home, and died immediately after taking the first sip of wine..."

"All in all, the doctor only has a little over an hour to provide rescue..." Li Ming stopped laughing and started to think seriously.

"Not even an hour." Di Renjie shook his head.

"Brother Ming, have you forgotten? The primary school is in the imperial city. The messenger has to go from the Prince's Mansion to the imperial city. The procedures are complicated and it will take a long time..."

Yes.

Li Ming was misled by the thinking inertia of modern people.

There is no Datang Telecom in Datang, so sending WeChat messages requires either thought or martial arts skills.

Did the Tang Dynasty have the power of mind and lightness? No, so the only way to pass on information was by walking.

It takes time.

"That means..."

"That is to say, even if the doctor is sitting next to Prince Hejian, he only has a few minutes to treat him."

"Given the outgoing nature of the Prince of Hejian, he must have been delayed before leaving the Imperial Ancestral Temple. If we take this time into consideration..."

The strangeness is becoming more and more obvious——

The news of Prince Hejian's death spread too quickly, too hastily, and too hastily.

Perhaps after he fell down, the doctor just took a quick look at him, or perhaps even didn't call a doctor, and his family hurriedly announced his death.

This information was immediately spread to all high-ranking officials in the court, even to the Secretariat in the corner of the imperial city.

Even if a commoner dies, his family will struggle for a while, which is human nature.

What about a prince?
Isn't it too fast to post on WeChat Moments to invite the whole village to a banquet right after dialing 120? It seems like you are urging people to get on the road.

It was as if there was an invisible giant hand pushing from behind, impatiently hammering nails into Li Xiaogong's coffin.

"You make sense." Li Ming nodded solemnly to Di Renjie.

Di Renjie breathed a sigh of relief: "Then I feel relieved. Goodbye."

Li Ming looked at him.

Di Renjie's expression gradually stiffened: "I can go now...right?"

…………

"Why can't I control my mouth..."

Di Renjie stood in front of the Prince's Mansion in confusion, wishing he could slap himself.

"Brother Ming, I have so many brothers, but I only brought you with me. You should feel honored."

Wei Daijia was being guarded alone by Fang Xuanling, so Li Ming took the opportunity to drag Di Renjie out of the palace and asked for directions all the way to his uncle Li Xiaogong's house.

The two children walked through the magnificent gate together.

Hejian County Prince's Mansion.

To describe it in one word, it is: europium.

It covers a vast area, is luxurious and extravagant, and has a large number of servants.

Compared to here, Lide Hall is a slum.

There was an endless stream of people coming to pay their respects, and they were all high-ranking officials and dignitaries, and there was really no ordinary person among them.

The servants were busy hanging white banners, and the family were busy receiving the guests.

"My daughter pays respect to His Highness."

The seven concubines bowed to Li Ming and Di Renjie with tears in their eyes.

Among the seven people there are Han and Hu people, with various beauties, but all of them are broad-minded.

Our Tang Dynasty is indeed a great dynasty that is tolerant and great.

"The seven stars of the ladybug are actually here..." Li Ming muttered softly.

There is only a wrong name, not a wrong nickname. Father is always right in judging people...

"Seven-spotted ladybug? Oh, what a nostalgic title."

An old but warm laugh came from behind Li Ming.

You can hear this too... Li Ming glanced at Di Renjie who looked confused, and looked back.

He is a chubby and round old man with a kind smile on his face and a long snow-white beard hanging down to his chest, looking very naive.

"Young man, where did you hear this nickname?" the old man asked kindly.

"My grandfather." Li Ming answered casually.

"Oh?" The old man tried hard to open his fleshy eyes wide and looked at the arrogant kid curiously.

"You are the famous His Highness Li Ming, right?"

"How did you know?" Li Ming was surprised.

The old man stroked his long beard and explained with a smile:
“This nickname comes from the chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty.

"Back then, Xiaogong and I fought against Xiao Xian of the Southern Liang Dynasty, but we were short of boats. Xiaogong subdued the natives of Bashu and built a large number of warships for the Tang army.

"There was a ship with a huge cabin but no ram, which was a waste of space but had no fighting power. I had doubts in my mind, so I boarded the ship and took a look.

"Xiao Gong actually kept seven native women on that ship."

It turns out that Uncle Xiaogong is a pioneer in national integration... Li Ming's mouth twitched.

The old man continued:

"I was so angry at the time that I wrote a letter to His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin, who is now His Majesty. Do you know how His Majesty responded?"

Li Ming thought for a moment and answered:
"From lacking boats to having enough energy to build a ship for pleasure, doesn't this just show that Uncle Xiaogong is very capable? He should be praised."

The construction was a great success, the war was won, and I didn’t treat myself badly.

Break a screw into three pieces, what a logistics master!
The fat old man nodded appreciatively:
"You and His Majesty are thinking alike. It was in that letter that His Majesty jokingly called Xiaogong 'the seven-star ladybug'.

"Because it is not very elegant, this nickname is only known to your Majesty and me. You are the third one."

Di Renjie finally understood what was said and was shocked:
"Are you Li Jing, Duke of Wei?"

Oh my god, Li Jing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King?!

Li Ming stood in awe.

People are unbelievable.

This cute little fat old man is actually Li Jing, one of the Ten Sages of the Martial Temple, the war god of the Tang Dynasty who was deified by the people because of his awesome fighting skills? !
But he changed his mind and remembered that he, Li Ming, had once chatted and laughed with a scumbag who was the most powerful man in the Tang Dynasty in the Liangyi Palace, so he regained his composure.

My Tang Dynasty is really full of martial virtues and brilliant generals. When I go out to buy a bag of pepper, I can meet ten generals who destroyed the country...

Suddenly, Li Ming remembered the other identity of this legendary general, and immediately lost his composure and blurted out:

"You are sheep urine..."

After feeling the chubby old man's eyes suddenly become sharp, he swallowed the word "bubble".

This figure really looks like a fully inflated sheep's bladder.

There are only wrong names, no wrong nicknames. The ancients were not deceiving me.

"Cough cough!" Li Jing coughed dryly.

"If Your Majesty wants to choose a prince to share these vulgar words with, after much thought, the only one is you, Your Highness Li Ming."

Having said that, Li Jing sighed melancholy, his eyes drifting inadvertently into the distance, as if he was looking for the figure of an old friend.

"The past has become a memory. Xiaogong lived a carefree life. If he can say goodbye like this, I believe he will have no regrets."

He patted Li Ming's shoulder kindly and whispered in his ear:
"You should actually be more cautious."

what?
Li Ming looked up suddenly.

Li Jing has left, leaving only his back.

Li Ming felt a numbness on his back.

He didn't understand why this famous senior said this to him without any reason.

But, subconsciously.

That familiar sense of crisis that has been following me since I traveled through time has quietly taken root again.

(End of this chapter)