Tang Dynasty: The Holy Prince, the Dragon that Reigns Over the World

On the second day, early in the morning, before daybreak, Li Shimin led Li Chengqian, Cheng Yaojin, Qin Shubao, Hou Junji and other generals to lead a group of elite soldiers to ambush at Xuanwu Gate in the north of the palace, waiting for the arrival of Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji.

Soon, Jiancheng and Yuanji rode their horses and led the Donglin soldiers and Yuanji's palace soldiers to Xuanwu Gate. Because they did not know that Li Shimin had deployed his troops in advance, and did not know that Chang He had rebelled, when they entered Xuanwu Gate and saw Li Shimin and Li Chengqian standing in front of them on horseback, they were a little surprised, but did not feel panic.

"Erlang, you're here early." Li Jiancheng said coldly.

"Brother, we are brothers from the same mother, why did it come to this? I have no intention of competing with you for the throne, why do you try to harm me time and time again?" Li Shimin was heartbroken.

"Li Shimin, stop your sweet talk. You reported us for having affairs with the concubines in the harem in front of our father, and now you're pretending to be a good person? You're so successful that you're a threat to the emperor. You're better than us in both civil and military affairs. If you don't die, how can my brother and I feel at ease?" Li Yuanji said angrily, and then drew his bow and shot an arrow at Li Shimin.

Seeing this, Li Chengqian waved his halberd to block the arrow. "Hey, old man, did you see that? You treated him as a brother, but he wanted to kill you. The throne is very tempting." Li Chengqian shook his head and sighed.

"Yuanji, why has it come to this? Why has it come to this?" Li Shimin burst into tears.

"Hey, Erlang, surrender. I know you must have made arrangements, but even if all the soldiers of your Qin Palace are here, it will be useless. Chang He, the executive commander of the Xuanwu Gate Guard, is my man. Surrender, and I will leave your body intact." Li Jiancheng sighed.

"Uncle, you can't say anything. Aye, give the order." Li Chengqian said with a smile. Li Shimin waved his hand weakly, and Li Chengqian took out the horn. When the horn sounded, Cheng Yaojin, Qin Shubao, Hou Junji and other generals and 300 elite soldiers came out from behind. Chang He ordered the guards to close the Xuanwu Gate, and led the guards stationed in the palace and the elite soldiers of the Qin Palace to confront the Jiancheng army.

"Chang He, you are so bold that you dare to rebel against me?" Li Yuanji said angrily.

"Don't be angry, Your Highness. As the saying goes, a good bird chooses a tree to roost in, and a good minister chooses a master to serve. I am only seeking to serve a wise leader." Chang He said calmly.

"Li Shimin, do you think that your mere 600 soldiers can stop my 5000 troops?" Li Jiancheng shouted in a timid manner.

"Uncle, don't be angry. We will know whether it works or not after we fight. All the generals in the Qin Palace listen to my order. Follow the order of the Qin King and capture Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji. If they resist, kill them without mercy." Li Chengqian said sternly. Li Shimin glanced at Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, sighed and bowed his head without saying anything.

"Yes!" The generals received the order and rushed towards Li Jiancheng's army. Li Chengqian guarded Li Shimin. Everyone fought in a group. The elite soldiers of the Qin Palace were strong and led by Qin Shubao and other fierce generals. Although they were outnumbered, they were not at a disadvantage. Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji saw that the two sides were evenly matched. They hurriedly shouted, "Don't entangle, divide one army and kill Li Shimin directly." As soon as the voice fell, a fierce general from Jiancheng's army ran towards Li Shimin. Li Shimin and his son saw this and remained calm.

Seeing this, the general did not answer, but swung his spear and stabbed Li Shimin with the move of "Green Dragon Out of the Sea". When the tip of the spear was still three inches away from Li Shimin's chest, a long halberd suddenly stabbed out from the side, but it was the last one to hit him first. The long halberd hooked and locked, and the tip of the spear could not move forward even a little bit.

"Hey, old man, why don't you hide?" Li Chengqian held the halberd in one hand and put the other hand on the saddle, and said with a smile.

"Haha, with my son here, what do I have to fear?" Li Shimin laughed.

"This is for you. Awesome." Li Chengqian gave a thumbs up.

"Hey, you guys are being disrespectful." The general said angrily. He tried to pull out the spear, but no matter how hard he tried, the spear was like a root, not moving at all.

"Who are you? How could there be such a powerful person in the Palace of Prince Qin?" the general asked in surprise.

"Oh, excuse me, excuse me. I am the eldest son of the King of Qin, Li Chengqian." Li Chengqian retracted his halberd and clasped his hands together.

The spear was suddenly retracted, and the general almost stumbled off his horse. "Li Chengqian? A 7-year-old child? He has such supernatural power? God does not bless the prince." The general was surprised.

"Father, sit still and watch me repel the enemy." After saying this, Li Chengqian rode out on his horse, wielding the purple-gold dragon-roaring halberd, and went straight for the approaching general.

"This man is Xue Wanche, a fierce general. My son, you must not harm his life." Li Shimin said anxiously.

Upon hearing this, Li Chengqian nodded and threw his halberd at Xue Wanche. Xue Wanche blocked with his halberd, and when the halberd was about to hit the halberd, Li Chengqian suddenly changed his tactics, and the halberd drew a semicircle in the air, sweeping towards Xue Wanche at lightning speed. Xue Wanche was caught off guard and knocked off his horse by the halberd, and fainted.

The soldiers under the crown prince saw that Li Chengqian had knocked down their best general with one blow, and they were all terrified. They didn't know whether he would live or die. But the soldiers under the king of Qin cheered. Li Chengqian rode forward, with his long halberd, and no one could stop him. Li Chengqian was like a tiger among a flock of sheep, and he killed so many that the Jiancheng army was terrified and retreated again and again.

Before long, corpses were strewn all over Xuanwu Gate. There were only a few Jiancheng troops left. Li Shimin rode his horse up to Jiancheng and Yuanji.

"Surrender." Li Shimin made his final effort.

"Haha, I'm the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty, how can I surrender? Erlang, now I'm defeated by you, and I can only die. But please, Erlang, for the sake of our blood relationship, spare your nephew's life." After Li Jiancheng said this, he drew his sword and committed suicide.

"Brother, I promise you that as long as they don't commit the crime of treason, I won't kill them." Li Shimin said painfully as he looked at Li Jiancheng's body.

"Second brother, I was wrong, please forgive me." Li Yuanji turned over, dismounted and knelt on the ground.

"Your Majesty, this guy plotted to kill my cousin and has repeatedly plotted against you. You must not forgive him," Qin Qiong said loudly.

Looking at the angry expressions of the people in the Prince of Qin's Mansion, Li Shimin turned his horse around silently and stood with his back to them.

"Alas, this cheap father is really troublesome, and I have to be the bad guy." Li Chengqian thought to himself. Then he looked at Qin Qiong and nodded implicitly. Qin Qiong understood and smashed down with his mace. Li Yuanji's head was immediately torn open and he fell to the ground and died.

"Let's do this. Jingde follows me into the palace, and the rest of you can go back." Li Shimin sighed and rode away.

As for what Li Shimin said to Li Yuan, Li Chengqian didn't know. But soon, the decree that Li Shimin was appointed as the crown prince came. The whole palace was overjoyed. But Li Chengqian knew that Li Shimin was not happy.

On this day, there was a family dinner at the Prince’s Mansion.

"Erlang, it's time to find a teacher for Cheng Qian." Changsun Wugou said.

"What Guanyin said is right. Who are we looking for?" Li Shimin looked at Li Chengqian, who was only 7 years old. Although he was only 7 years old, his body was like that of a teenager.

"By the way, let Kong Yingda (the 32nd generation grandson of Confucius) teach." Li Shimin said.

"Father, my son is still young. Can you wait a little longer?" Li Chengqian said with a bitter face as he thought of the mountains of ancient Chinese books.

"Humph, Dalang is going to be the crown prince in the future, how can you be idle all day long? Besides, studying makes you wise, how can you play with swords and guns all day long?" Changsun Wugou said while pulling Li Chengqian's ear.

"Mom, be gentle, my ears have fallen off. Isn't it enough that I promised you?" Li Chengqian covered his ears with his hands while grimacing.

"It's like a candle. It won't light up unless it's lit." Li Shimin said with a smile.

Li Tai and Li Ke laughed secretly, and Li Shimin looked at them and laughed secretly. He glared at them and said, "You two should go to study with your elder brother tomorrow." The two were startled, then nodded with a bitter face.

"Are you still showing off?" Li Chengqian said proudly.

"Pa!" Zhangsun Wugou slapped Li Chengqian on the head. Li Chengqian rubbed his head and stopped showing off.

"As the eldest brother, you should set an example. Your brothers and sisters will be left in your care in the future. Dalang, starting tomorrow you should lead your younger brothers to study hard. If they dare to slack off, you will have to watch out for them." Li Shimin said.

"If I don't study hard, you'll spank me. What if Ke'er and the others don't study hard? Should I spank them?" Li Chengqian was eager to try.

"You can't hit them. Qingque and the others don't study hard, so I'll spank you anyway." Li Shimin stroked his beard.

"Hiss! Father is fair and strict in his dealings. I admire you so much." Li Chengqian said with a bow. But in his heart he thought, old man, you are so cruel. Li Shimin saw Li Chengqian being humiliated and looked very pleased.

"How can you make such an arrangement, Erlang? Dalang will have more and more brothers and sisters in the future. Dalang will be the crown prince in the future. How can he have so much time to teach his brothers in person? Erlang, do you want to tire Dalang to death?" Changsun Wugou looked at Li Shimin dissatisfiedly and said. Li Shimin paused when he heard this. He rolled his eyes. The only one who dared to talk to Li Shimin like this was Changsun Wugou, his childhood sweetheart.

"Mother is mighty and has unified the Prince's Mansion." Li Chengqian clasped his fists in admiration.

The next day, Li Chengqian started his own study. How should I put it? It hurts. It really hurts. Li Shimin whipped him for not completing his homework. Li Shimin and his wife played mixed doubles for him because he didn't follow the rules in class. Li Ke and Li Tai were naughty and didn't listen to the teacher, so Li Chengqian was beaten again...

One day, Li Shimin checked the academic performance of Li Chengqian and others. Only Li Ke recited well, while Li Chengqian and Li Tai could not recite the words of the sage. After Li Shimin praised Li Ke and persuaded Li Tai to study harder, he picked up a whip and beat Li Chengqian.

"Mom, is father too strict with my eldest brother?" Li Tai looked at Changsun Wugou.

"Alas, he is not only your elder brother, but also the future crown prince of the Tang Dynasty. If you want to obtain his position, you must bear his heavy responsibilities." Changsun Wugou sighed.

"I would rather die than be crown prince," Li Tai said, shivering as he watched Li Chengqian being beaten. Li Ke also nodded in agreement.