Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 61 Disappearance of Li Ming

“I… this is…”

When Li Shimin opened his eyes again, it was completely dark outside.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty is awake, Your Majesty is awake!"

The imperial doctors howled with excitement and frantically took the patient's pulse.

"How do you feel, Your Majesty? Are you still feeling unwell?"

Li Shimin impatiently slapped away the salty hand:
"Don't make any noise, let me be quiet."

The imperial doctors went to report the good news with joy.

Li Shimin struggled to sit up from the bed, covered his chest, and tried to take a deep breath.

A dull pain in the ribs.

But his breathing had returned to normal and his heart was beating strongly.

"what's wrong with me……"

His memory was very vague. He only remembered that he and Yang had been in the study for a while, and then he knew nothing...

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"

The annoying woman screamed, and Concubine Wei cried and fell into Li Shimin's arms.

Li Shimin felt a dull pain in his ribs again. He grinned, gently moved Concubine Wei's head away, and asked calmly:
"I am fine. I am sorry to have made you worried. What happened?"

Concubine Wei cried and sobbed:
"Your Majesty suddenly passed out in his study this morning. The imperial physician said that he was suffering from heart failure and exhaustion due to overwork over state affairs..."

"Where is Concubine Yang?" Li Shimin interrupted her.

"Concubine Yang has already returned to the harem." Concubine Wei brushed it off and continued to cry:

"I don't know what to do. I have written a letter to Prince Ji..."

Prince Ji is Li Shen, the prince born to Concubine Wei. He has been sent out to be a vassal and is the king in Ji.

Li Shimin frowned:

"I'm fine, just a minor ailment. Why are you talking to him all this way?"

Concubine Wei said:

“Prince Ji is extremely filial and will definitely serve Your Majesty at his sickbed.

"If I don't tell him, he will blame me when he finds out later."

His son is so filial... Li Shimin felt comforted and gently stroked Concubine Wei's hair:
"You are tired too, go and rest first."

Wei Gui wanted to say something, but Otomo came to report:
"Your Majesty, the King of Wei, the King of Jin, and Zhangsun Wuji request to see you."

When these three people arrived, Concubine Wei had no choice but to leave in disappointment.

"Grandma!"

A young prince who was as fat as a ball almost rushed in.

He was Prince of Wei, Li Tai, the second son born to Empress Changsun.

Li Tai and Li Chengqian were of similar age. Both were born before the Xuanwu Gate Incident. They were quite talented and were deeply loved by Li Shimin.

Therefore, although he had reached adulthood, Li Shimin did not allow him to go to Wei to establish his fiefdom, and even made him move into the Wude Hall.

The Wude Hall is located between the Taiji Palace and the East Palace, where the retired emperor Li Yuan once worked.

Such courtesy made the promising young man Li Tai imagine a lot, and he began a series of open and secret struggles with the prince.

"I hope Grandpa is alright, I hope Grandpa is alright!"

Li Tai excitedly held Li Shimin's hand and knelt down crying:

After crying heart-wrenchingly for a long time, he seemed to suddenly realize something, took a step back, and kowtowed:
"I was so overjoyed to see that my father was in good health that I did something so disrespectful. I hope my father will forgive me!"

As he said this, he wiped his nose and chuckled, acting out the effect of Fan Jin passing the imperial examination.

Li Shimin was filled with joy and felt that his love for this filial son was not in vain.

"Why do you say that, Qingque (Li Tai's nickname)?"

He took the initiative to shake Li Tai's hand and patted the thick back of his hand:
"The most important thing about filial piety is the intention. You and I have a deep love for each other, so why should we care about the red tape of Confucianism?"

Li Tai smiled innocently.

At this time, Li Zhi walked in dazedly, holding his uncle Changsun Wuji's hand, with red and swollen eyes.

The third brother, Li Zhi, is quite older than his two older brothers and has always seemed like an invisible figure.

"What's wrong with him?" Li Shimin asked puzzledly.

Chang Sun Wuji smiled bitterly and said:
"When the child learned that His Majesty was ill, he knelt in front of the temple and cried and cried. He is now almost crying himself to sleep."

Li Shimin immediately stood up and hugged little Li Zhi in his arms:
"Silly pheasant, why are you crying? What if you hurt yourself?"

Li Tai's eyes suddenly became sharp.

The disciple is better than the master. I didn’t expect that this younger brother’s acting skills are also not to be underestimated.

Li Shimin stroked Li Zhi's hair and suddenly thought of someone:

"Where's Cheng Qian?"

Crown Prince Li Chengqian, Li Tai and Li Zhi are all brothers from the same mother.

Why did his two younger brothers come but he didn’t?

Chang Sun Wuji said worriedly:

“When His Royal Highness the Crown Prince learned that His Majesty was ill, he immediately fainted and vomited continuously after waking up.

"Although he is getting better now, his vitality is greatly damaged. The imperial physician stopped him from leaving the East Palace."

Li Zhi and Li Tai's eyes suddenly became sharp.

The older you get, the wiser you become. I didn’t expect he would be the best in acting.

Li Shimin's heart was hanging:

"Cheng Qian has always been sick and weak, and he has been taking medicine all the time.

"I didn't expect that I would cause so much trouble just by staying up all night..."

He stroked Li Zhi's little head and inexplicably thought of another little man who gave him a similar feeling.

Who is it...

His brain had not yet completely emerged from the fog of coma, and his memory was hazy and fuzzy. Li Shimin felt as if he had forgotten something, and let his thoughts fly aimlessly...

"…Therefore, please quickly dispatch the Right Guard General, Ashina Jieshe, to make this request to Your Majesty."

Zhang Sun Wuji asked for instructions, and seeing that Li Shimin did not respond, he reminded carefully:
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty~"

"Ah? Yeah." Li Shimin woke up and nodded vaguely:
"That's it. I'm at ease with you doing the job."

He paused, and said lovingly to his two sons:

"I am deeply comforted by your brothers' innocent hearts.

"It's late at night, go back and rest.

"I have a few more words to say to your uncle."

Li Tai immediately said goodbye with great tact:

"Father, please take a good rest and recuperate."

Having said that, he took Li Zhi out.

The imperial physician and all other servants were sent away.

Only Li Shimin and his eldest grandson were left in the bedroom.

"Your Majesty?" Changsun Wuji smelled an unusual scent.

Li Shimin asked abruptly:
"Is there any progress in the Li Xiaogong case?"

This question left Changsun completely confused, so he answered truthfully:
“No progress has been made yet.”

"We don't know how the thieves poisoned us or what kind of poison they used?" Li Shimin asked.

Chang Sun Wuji still shook his head:

"We only know that the Prince of Hejian died of arsenic poisoning. But no traces of arsenic have been found yet."

Li Shimin sighed slightly and stopped talking.

Zhang Sun Wuji also sensed something unusual, and his tone suddenly rose:

"Your Majesty means that today's incident was also caused by that thief..."

If the prince was not acting, he was indeed unwell.

It's too much of a coincidence that the emperor and the crown prince fell ill on the same day...

There are strong signs of human intervention!

"Hush." ​​Li Shimin said softly:

"Pretend you don't know and investigate in secret."

Changsun Wuji naturally understood what the emperor meant.

He was able to kill the prince and escape unscathed, and even poisoned the Taiji Palace and the East Palace.

The mastermind behind this must be deeply involved, and any slight movement will easily alert the enemy.

But Changsun Wuji expressed his objection:
"It's still unclear who the thief is. Your Majesty, the Dragon System controls the entire Tang Dynasty. It's too dangerous to get involved!"

Li Shimin nodded slightly:
“I have a plan.

"Under the pretext of recuperating from the heat, I went to Jiucheng Palace to escape the summer heat.

"During this period, you, the assistant minister, will preside over the government.

"We must quickly solve the Li Xiaogong case and catch that daring criminal!"

Changsun Wuji suddenly felt the burden on his shoulders was heavy, and bowed solemnly:
"I will obey your command!"

"Oh, right." Li Shimin remembered something:
"After I fainted, where was Yang? What was she doing?"

"Before His Majesty lost consciousness, Concubine Yang returned to the harem."

Changsun Wuji answered dryly, said a few words of advice to take care of his health, and then said goodbye and left.

Li Shimin lay on the bed with lingering fear, looking at the sky with his head resting on the pillow, with some pain still remaining between his ribs.

He felt empty inside, as if he had forgotten something important.

It was late at night, and it was pitch black outside the window with the candlelight flickering.

Fourteen years ago, it was a night like this.

In order to ease the relationship with his brother Li Jiancheng, he went to the East Palace for a banquet.

As a result, his younger brother Li Yuanji, who was instigated by the anger, drank a glass of poisoned wine, vomited blood and almost died...

"Li Yuanji...his princess is Yang, who accompanied me this morning...

"Could it be that she still has feelings for Yuanji and wants to harm me?

“No, that’s unlikely.

"Li Yuanji is a scumbag. How could anyone be sincere to him..."

Li Shimin let his thoughts wander and immersed himself in thinking.

The sluggish brain started moving again, clearing away the haze, and the vague memories gradually revealed their true form.

He finally noticed a detail:
"This is Lizheng Palace. Why did Yang leave the harem and appear here?"

The entrance to the harem is strictly guarded. There must be some reason or opportunity for her to appear here.

Who was that opportunity?
A name came to my throat

Li Shimin tried desperately to recall.

A short and blurry figure broke through the man-made fog and flashed before my eyes.

"Li Ming?!"

Li Shimin suddenly shouted.

When I fainted, I was not alone in the study!

Li Ming is here too!

But where is Li Ming now?
Why doesn't he come to visit?
Li Shimin was quite indignant and confused at the same time.

Since Li Ming was at the scene at that time.

Why did Concubine Wei and Zhangsun Wuji both tacitly agree not to mention it?
What happened at that time?
(End of this chapter)