Datang: Just been appointed as the crown prince, the counterattack system is here

Chapter 257: Rebellious Son! Do you want me to visit you three times? ! [Seeking monthly votes]

Time passed little by little, and Li Shimin still had not received any news from Empress Changsun, and he became more and more annoyed.

At this moment, he was pacing back and forth in Ganlu Palace, with a lot of thoughts in his mind.

If Empress Changsun could successfully bring Li Chengqian back, that would be great. If Empress Changsun was also unable to bring Li Chengqian back, would he really lead his troops to capture Li Chengqian?
Putting aside the impact of doing so, let's just talk about the six rates of the Eastern Palace controlled by Li Chengqian. How confident is he that he can win?

Logically speaking, Li Er was very confident in his military capabilities, especially his cavalry combat capabilities. He was the General Tian Ce who led 3,000 black armored soldiers to attack Dou Jiande's 100,000-strong army.

However, the Iron Pagoda and Black Armor Guards under Li Chengqian's command should not be underestimated. They are also an elite force that defeated tens of thousands of Turkic cavalry with only a few thousand soldiers.

Even in terms of leadership, he believed that he was definitely better than Su Dingfang and Xue Rengui, but don't forget that in addition to Su Dingfang and Xue Rengui, there are also Yu Gushe and Pei Xuan.

Although Pei Xuan's military ability was not a concern in Li Shimin's eyes, the musket guards under Pei Xuan's command were a new type of soldier that he had never encountered before.

If a fight really breaks out, it's hard to say who will win or lose.

As for Yugushe, Li Shimin had dealt with him before. He was once the first general of Tuli Khan. As for the use of Turkic cavalry, there were probably few Turkic generals who could match him.

From this we can see that if Li Shimin intended to use force against Li Chengqian, it would not be an easy task.

Even if Li Shimin could win in the end, the result would not be good.

Therefore, Li Shimin did not want to go to this point with Li Chengqian unless it was absolutely necessary.

However, even if Li Shimin did not want to go to this point with Li Chengqian, the problem now was that Li Chengqian was pressing him step by step, forcing him to consider this step.

Just as Li Shimin was getting more and more annoyed, Fang Xuanling hurried in again, bowed and said, "Your Majesty!"

"How's it going? Any news from the Queen?!"

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin couldn't wait to ask.

Fang Xuanling sighed and shook his head, "Not yet. But the Tibetan envoys are already outside the palace. Does Your Majesty wish to see them?"

"What are you meeting?"

When Li Shimin heard that there was no news from Empress Zhangsun, his face suddenly darkened. He then waved his sleeves in annoyance and said, "Can't you see I'm busy right now? Let the Minister of Rites make arrangements for them!"

"But, waiting like this isn't a solution!"

"Then what do you think we should do?"

Li Shimin glanced at him coldly: "Do you want me to lead the troops out to capture that rebellious son?!"

"No, Your Majesty, I didn't mean that. I just wanted to ask whether we should adjourn the court first and wait until the prince comes back!" Fang Xuanling explained hurriedly.

"Humph!"

Li Shimin snorted coldly, then said solemnly, "Do you think that rebellious son will only be a vegetarian for three days? He's clearly trying to wrest power from me. If I don't agree to his terms, I guarantee he'll remain in the suburbs apologizing to the heavens on my behalf!"

"Ah? This"

When Fang Xuanling heard what Li Shimin said, he couldn't help but look surprised.

Although he had secretly guessed Li Chengqian's purpose, he did not see it as clearly as Li Shimin. He thought to himself that it was true that no one knows a son better than his father, and His Majesty really knew the prince very well.

However, since Your Majesty knows the Crown Prince's true intentions, why don't you have any other countermeasures?

Is Your Majesty willing to give up the power in your hands?
This is unlikely!

Given Your Majesty's desire for power, you should not tolerate such a thing happening.

Or has the Crown Prince truly threatened Your Majesty, forcing Your Majesty to compromise?
Thinking of this, Fang Xuanling suddenly felt his scalp tingling, because if Li Chengqian won this father-son dispute, he would not be able to imagine what the future of the Tang Dynasty would be like.

But then Li Shimin continued to talk to himself: "Does the Minister of the Central Secretariat feel that the Crown Prince is somewhat similar to me in my youth?"

"What does your majesty mean?"

"Do you remember how I fought for power with the former Crown Prince? Although the former Crown Prince had all the advantages of being the eldest son, there was one thing he could never shake me with: the external enemies of the Tang Dynasty, and I had to deal with them!"

Li Shimin said meaningfully: "Now think about it, was the Double Ninth Festival banquet that night a trap set up specifically for me?"

"Now I also need the Crown Prince to deal with the twenty-nine countries in the Western Regions, the four Tuyuhun countries, and the newly arrived Tibetan envoys!"

"This"

When Fang Xuanling heard what Li Shimin said, he was so shocked that he stood there in a daze.

But Li Shimin didn't finish his words: "In fact, I just realized it. I thought the prince's purpose was to deal with the Five Surnames and Seven Families. I didn't expect that his real purpose was to deal with me!"

"Ah!"

Having said that, he couldn't help but sneer: "He is really my good son!"

"Your Majesty, this is impossible. The prince is only eleven years old. How could he have such a deep plan? He..."

"Okay, Minister of the Central Secretariat, stop deceiving yourself. Aren't you aware of the Crown Prince's performance over the past three years?"

Before Fang Xuanling could finish his words, Li Shimin interrupted him with a wave of his hand. Then he glanced at the sky outside the door and said thoughtfully, "It seems that Guanyin Bi will not be able to come back."

"What does Your Majesty mean?" Fang Xuanling asked cautiously.

Li Shimin narrowed his eyes, and then said solemnly: "Since that rebellious son has already arranged his carriage and horses, I will naturally go to meet him!"

"Then Your Majesty, will you lead the troops, or..."

"When I went to the Eastern Palace, I didn't bring a single soldier with me. Could it be that I'm still afraid of that rebellious son today?"

Li Shimin snorted disdainfully and walked out of the palace directly.

At the same time, Taiji Palace, Taiji Hall.

Civil and military officials were whispering and discussing with each other.

Cheng Yaojin and Yuchi Gong were heard whispering, "Hey, Big Black Bull, what do you think the Crown Prince wants to do? He actually said he's the emperor now. Is he trying to usurp the throne?"

"Stop talking nonsense here!"

When Yuchi Gong heard Cheng Yaojin's words, his face changed drastically, and he couldn't help but scold in a low voice: "Are you going to die? How dare you say such a thing?!"

"Tsk!" Cheng Yaojin curled his lips in disdain, then muttered, "I think you've been frightened by the emperor, and you're no longer as brave as you used to be!"

"What do you know? I call him a man of insight. Didn't you see the emperor kill Fu Zhen without blinking an eye?"

"How could he not blink? Why don't he have any eyes?"

"Idiot! I'm saying that the Double Ninth Festival banquet that night was definitely not simple!"

"What's so difficult about it? It's just killing a barbarian. It's not like we haven't killed anyone before!"

"Oh! How come you have no brains?"

Yuchi Gong sneered, then pursed his lips at Du Ruhui and lowered his voice, "Just now, when I passed by the Minister of War, I heard him discussing muskets with his subordinates. Do you understand what he meant?"

"What do you mean? Is the military of our Tang Dynasty going to be reformed?" Cheng Yaojin said in surprise and excitement.

Yuchi Gong shook his head and said, "Whether or not there will be reforms, I don't know, but the emergence of the Fire Spear Guards is definitely a force that the Tang Dynasty cannot ignore!"

"But this power belongs to the prince, right?"

"Isn't the Crown Prince the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty?"

"No, you know that's not what I meant, just in case..."

"Left servant!"

Before Cheng Yaojin could finish his words, a loud voice rang out in the hall.

When the ministers heard this voice, they immediately stopped discussing and looked in the direction of the sound.

The owner of this voice was none other than Zhang Xuansu, who had previously stood up and angrily criticized Li Chengqian.

Zhang Xuansu then angrily said, "It's already this hour, and the Crown Prince hasn't returned yet. Is he clearly disobeying the order?"

"If this is the case, we should immediately meet with His Majesty and ask His Majesty to make the final decision!"

"That's right! Although the Crown Prince apologized to the Heaven on behalf of Your Majesty, calling himself the Emperor is a crime of great disrespect. As Your Majesty's subjects, how can we ignore this?"

After hearing Zhang Xuansu's words, Ge Ping, the Minister of Revenue who had suffered a setback at the Double Ninth Festival banquet that night, also stood up.

"Yes, Zuo Pushe! No matter what, we should immediately meet His Majesty and ask His Majesty to make the final decision! Moreover, Tuyuhun has already sent troops to our Tang Dynasty. If we delay for an extra hour, the people on the Tang Dynasty border will suffer even more. I ask Zuo Pushe to take charge of the situation for us!"

"Please ask Zuo Pushe to take charge of the situation on our behalf!"

Seeing the ministers standing up one by one to salute him, Xiao Yu had never felt such great pressure.

After all, as the Left Prime Minister, he did not have much real power.

Moreover, he was not a core member of Li Shimin's power team.

But he said in a very embarrassed tone: "My dear ministers, it's not that I don't want to take charge of the situation on your behalf, but the Minister of the Central Secretariat has already gone to see His Majesty. We just need to wait for His Majesty's decision. There is no need to cause any more trouble!"

"Left Pushe, what you said is wrong. We just want to share the country's worries, why are we causing more trouble?" Zhang Xuansu said coldly with a frown.

Immediately afterwards, a large number of court officials started to make a fuss.

"Yes, Zuo Pushe, how can you say that?"

"Left Sergeant"

Seeing the ministers surrounding him like hungry wolves pouncing on their prey, Xiao Yu could not help but retreat in fear.

At this moment, a report suddenly came from outside the hall: "Urgent news from Liaodong, Goguryeo suddenly sent troops towards our Tang Dynasty. They have now arrived twenty miles from Liaodong City and are ready to attack our Tang Dynasty at any time!"

"What!?" The ministers were shocked when they heard this.

It seemed that no one expected that Goguryeo would send troops at this time.

But then, the Minister of War, Du Ruhui, spoke first: "Isn't Goguryeo in the midst of a civil war? Why would they suddenly send troops to our Tang Dynasty?"

"I don't know about this. That's all the emergency report said!"

The person who reported it told the truth.

Du Ruhui was slightly startled, then turned to look at Xiao Yu, frowning and asked, "What do you think, Zuo Pushe?"

"This"

Xiao Yu was still a little embarrassed.

But then Zhangsun Wuji, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly made a decisive statement: "The military situation is urgent. We can't delay any longer. We should go to see His Majesty immediately!"

Upon hearing this, the other ministers echoed one after another: "We will follow Duke Zhao to meet His Majesty!"

"Wait a minute!"

Just as the ministers were about to follow Zhangsun Wuji out of the Taiji Hall, the Minister of the Central Secretariat Fang Xuanling rushed back and stopped them, saying, "Your Majesty has gone to look for the Crown Prince! He is not in the palace right now!"

"Ah? How can this be possible? Your Majesty is going to go find the prince alone. What if..."

"How dare you! What do you want to say?!"

Before the minister who suspected that Li Chengqian would harm Li Shimin could finish his words, Wei Zheng interrupted him sternly.

"I, I didn't say anything. I was just worried that His Majesty was in danger."

"Hmph! Your Majesty is going to see the Crown Prince, not deep into the enemy camp. What's the danger?"

"You can't say that, Wei Zheng. As your Majesty's subjects, isn't it okay for us to worry about your Majesty being in danger?"

Upon hearing the argument between Wei Zheng and the other man, a minister immediately stood up to support them.

"That's right, Wei Zheng. You are the Prince's Junior Tutor. We understand that you are on the Prince's side, but you can't stop us from being on His Majesty's side, right?"

"That's right, Wei Zheng! We are your Majesty's subjects. Why are you trying to stop us?"

"Wei Zheng! What are your intentions?!"

"Alright, alright, everyone, stop arguing. Let's go out of the city together to see His Majesty and the Crown Prince, okay?"

Seeing that the ministers and Wei Zheng were arguing in the Taiji Hall, Cheng Yaojin quickly stepped forward to smooth things over.

Yuchi Gong, standing by, echoed, "Yeah, we can't decide anything here anyway! We might as well go find His Majesty and the Crown Prince!"

Upon hearing this, all the ministers immediately agreed to the proposal.

As for Wei Zheng, he didn't say anything more.

Just like that, all the civil and military officials in the court were rushed out of the palace in a hurry.

On the other side, outside Chang'an, next to a thatched hut.

Li Chengqian was giving Empress Changsun a back massage with a very attentive look on his face, and was carefully explaining to her the practice methods of the "Taixuan Health Preservation Sutra".

"Mother, you should practice this health-preserving sutra in the morning, especially when the first rays of sunlight set. It will be most effective when you practice it when your Yang energy is abundant!"

Upon hearing this, Empress Zhang Sun couldn't help but said with some amusement:
"My son, at only twenty, is already so deeply involved in the art of health preservation. Mother is truly curious. Who taught you this art of health preservation? Could it be the immortal from my dream again?"

Li Chengqian chuckled and said, "It doesn't matter who taught you. As long as it can strengthen your body, I think mother should practice it."

"Well, my son is interested."

Empress Changsun nodded with satisfaction, then suddenly seemed to remember something and sighed, "In fact, your father also has many hidden injuries. It would be great if he could stop and recuperate in peace."

"Uh, this."

Li Chengqian couldn't help but look embarrassed when he heard this.

In fact, he was not surprised at all that Li Shimin had hidden injuries.

After all, Li Shimin is different from other emperors throughout history. He is the kind of commander who likes to charge into battle.

When charging into battle, it is often easy to dodge an open attack but difficult to guard against an arrow from the dark.

Even if Li Shimin is the General of Tiance, those stray arrows will not recognize you.

Therefore, Li Chengqian guessed that the reason why Li Shimin died so young was not only because he pursued immortality and took elixirs from alchemists in his later years, but it was probably also related to the hidden injuries accumulated in his early years.

After all, Li Yuan lived to be seventy years old, and no matter how incompetent Li Shimin was, it was impossible for him not to live to be sixty years old.

But in reality he only lived to be fifty-one.

It's really short-lived.

Alas, I hope he can live longer after becoming the emperor.

Li Chengqian sighed, as if remembering something, and asked Empress Changsun, "Mother, this health-preserving manual that I gave you, my father probably doesn't know about it, right?"

"This"

Empress Zhangsun hesitated for a moment, then asked sullenly, "What are you talking about? Don't you wish your father good health?"

"How can it be!"

Li Chengqian quickly smiled and said, "How could I possibly think that? I wish my father would live a hundred years and have more brothers and sisters with my mother."

"Bah! Stop talking nonsense! How can a mother be so fertile?"

"hehe."

Li Chengqian smiled without comment and thought to himself, "You are not yet able to have children? You have already given birth to several children, and you will have two more in the future. I don't know how you have so much energy!"
"Oh, by the way, Cheng Qian, did your royal grandfather say anything strange to you?"

"What strange words?"

Li Chengqian looked at Empress Changsun with some confusion.

Empress Zhangsun was stunned for a moment, then shook her head and said, "It's nothing, perhaps mother is overthinking it."

"No, from what my mother said, it seems like she's hiding something from me!"

"I'm not hiding anything from you, don't overthink it!"

"But."

"Rebellious son!!"

Just as Li Chengqian was about to question Empress Changsun, a low shout suddenly came from behind him.

He couldn't help but shudder all over, then looked in the direction of the sound.

Li Shimin came over with a furious look on his face, holding a sword in his hand. He said in a stern voice, "Do you want me to come to you three times? You've disappointed me so much! I must kill you, this rebellious son!"

"what?"

Li Chengqian was startled when he saw Li Shimin rushing towards him with a sword, and he quickly cried to Empress Zhangsun for help, "Mother! Mother, save me!"

"Your Majesty! Things are not what you think. I just heard Cheng Qian say that he did this for Qingque and the others."

Empress Changsun was also frightened by Li Shimin's appearance, and hurriedly protected Li Chengqian behind her.

At this time, Su Dingfang, Xue Rengui and others also rushed forward, shouting: "Your Majesty, calm down. The Crown Prince..."

"You all shut up!"

Li Shimin shouted loudly and quickened his pace with the sword in hand.

"Your Majesty! Please listen to what I have to say. You really misunderstood Cheng Qian."

"Enough, Guanyin maid! I trusted you so much before and asked you to persuade this rebellious son to go back. I never thought that you would actually team up with this rebellious son to deceive me!"

Li Shimin roared again, then rushed to Empress Zhangsun and shouted angrily, "Get out of my way! I must teach this rebellious son a lesson today!"

"Your Majesty! I have not lied to you. Everything Cheng Qian did was truly for the Tang Dynasty."

Empress Changsun was like a hen protecting her chicks. She protected Li Chengqian away from Li Shimin and explained things to him earnestly.

But Li Shimin didn't want to listen to her explanation at all, and said with an angry face:

"Guanyin, please get out of my way! Today I want to let this rebellious son know that I am not only the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, but also his father!!"

After saying this, he pulled Empress Changsun away without saying a word and slashed at her with his sword.

"boom!"

Just as Li Shimin chopped down, a gunshot suddenly rang out.

"This"

Everyone around the thatched hut felt their heads go blank the moment the gunshots rang out.

In just a moment, all the sounds disappeared.

"His Majesty--!!"

(End of this chapter)