Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

Li Er was very anxious.

In order to avoid staying at the exorbitantly priced "Eastern Palace Hotel," after seeing that the Ganlu Hall had been emptied by Li Yuan's men, he immediately headed towards the Taiji Hall.

There was also a side hall over there, and a residence for the emperor to rest in.

However......

The entire Taiji Hall, apart from the dragon throne and dragon desk in the main hall, is so large that it can accommodate hundreds of officials to hold court at the same time, yet there is not a single thing related to the emperor.

Even the small bed that Li Shimin longed for was sent away by someone sent by the retired Emperor Li Yuan to an unknown location.

The veins on Li Er's forehead throbbed violently.

Li Chengqian, however, stood to the side with his hands in his pockets, leaning leisurely against a pillar, watching the spectacle without any attempt to hide his amusement.

"Hahaha, Father, your family is gone!"

Li Shimin: "...Crown Prince, why are you laughing so loudly?"

Li Chengqian waved his hand, his smile growing even wider: "Father, please don't misunderstand. I'm not mocking you for having no place to stand in this vast palace. I'm just about to get engaged, and I'm thinking of something happy. Hahahaha!"

Beside him, the eunuch Fan Qi was already kneeling on the ground, trembling all over.

Li Shimin's eyes widened: "What a joke! How could I, the mighty Emperor of the Great Tang, not have a place to sleep?!"

His gaze shifted to Fan Qi, who was kneeling on the ground.

"Go! Prepare a new set of bedding and furnishings for me! Arrange everything that was missing from Ganlu Palace, just like it was before!"

Li Shimin snorted coldly, mocking his father's childish behavior.

How could the mighty Emperor of the Tang Dynasty be troubled by a bed?

however.

Just then, Li Chengqian's personal eunuch, Wang De, arrived in a hurry.

"Your Majesty, I went to the Imperial Household Department, and they reported that everything in the storeroom, including clothing, utensils, and even beds, had been ordered by the Emperor Emeritus to be sent out of the palace!"

"Send them out of the palace?!" Li Shimin exclaimed in surprise.

"My things, he sent them out of the palace? Where did he send them?!"

Wang De lowered his head, not daring to look at the emperor, who was now so angry he was practically bursting with rage.

"Some food, clothing, and daily necessities were sent to the residences of the retired emperor's princesses and princes, while all of His Majesty's personal belongings were sent to the Xianling Mausoleum by the retired emperor's orders..."

Xianling? Isn't that the mausoleum of my own imperial grandfather?

Li Chengqian immediately looked at his father with a sympathetic expression.

Father, what are you going to do now? Your grandfather has blocked all the methods you could think of beforehand, and hasn't even left any evidence against you.

Li Shimin: "...There isn't a single bed in the entire palace for me?! I am the Son of Heaven!"

Wang De and Fan Qi didn't dare to say a word, and knelt on the ground trembling.

Li Chengqian, on the other hand, came over with a smile.

"Father, I can send you the bed from the Eastern Palace. It just so happens to be one that you left behind, and the etiquette for it is in accordance with the Emperor's rites..."

As Li Chengqian spoke, he stretched out one hand, palm open, revealing his true intentions.

"Five hundred thousand strings of cash!"

Li Shimin was so angry that his chest trembled, and he pointed towards the gate of the Taiji Hall.

"roll!"

"Even if I have to squeeze in with Wang De and the others, sleep outside and freeze to death, I will never be coerced by you, you unfilial son!"

Li Chengqian shrugged and didn't press the matter.

He immediately headed out of the Taiji Hall.

He was humming a tune that made Li Shimin's chest clench with anger.

"The snow fell so deep, so earnestly."

"It reflects the wounds I suffered lying in the snow."

Fan Qi lowered her head even further, watching the senior eunuch Wang hurrying away with the Crown Prince, and for a moment, she felt a pang of envy.

"Your Highness, are you really going to abandon His Majesty? Right now, the Empress and the others have all been ordered by the Emperor Emeritus to remain indoors for prayers, so His Majesty can't go there at all. And all the storerooms at the Imperial Household Department have been emptied by the Emperor Emeritus..."

Wang De looked worried.

However, Li Chengqian showed no sign of worry at all, and was still humming a tune with schadenfreude.

“Wang De, you ran away from home and haven’t been gone for more than half a year, leaving your old father with a huge mess... Do you think any son in the world who did that would come home and not suffer at all?”

Li Chengqian smiled faintly.

"Grandfather still gave Father face and didn't block all his paths."

"I've clearly stated my price here, while my grandfather will only suffer physical pain. If we choose neither, then my father can swallow his pride and leave the palace to stay at a minister's house... He's the emperor, he always has a way!"

"Have Chu Dahai make preparations; we're having hot pot at the East Palace tonight!"

The Prince of Hejian's Residence.

"Xiaogong, you have truly caused me great suffering!"

Prince Li Xiaogong of Hejian, the Minister of the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs, looked embarrassed and helpless. He could only force a smile and had no other choice but to smile.

"Your Majesty, it's not that I want to do this, but the Emperor Emeritus has already issued an edict. He holds the imperial decree of regent that you gave him. If I don't comply, I'll be disobeying two edicts at the same time!"

Li Xiaogong looked like he was about to cry but had no tears left.

"Couldn't you have secretly left me something?! You really sent it all away? Xiao Gong, Xiao Gong, you're not such a stubborn person. Back when you were leading troops, you were as cunning as a bandit. Why have you become such an honest fool now that you're with me?"

Li Shimin downed another cup of wine in one gulp.

Li Xiaogong dismissed the maidservant who was pouring wine and personally poured wine for the emperor with a smile.

When the other party brought up this matter, his face showed helplessness and bitterness.

"Your Majesty, the Emperor Emeritus is keeping a close eye on things, and he even sent people from the princesses' residences to keep an eye on them... In the past, it was extremely difficult for those people to get any rewards, but now that they have finally found an opportunity to fill their own treasuries, they will not be polite at all."

"Even if I wanted to secretly keep some for Your Majesty, I would be powerless to do so!"

Li Shimin curled his lip, but looking at the luxurious courtyard of the Prince of Hejian's residence, he snorted coldly.

A wave of hands.

"I don't care. I have nowhere to go now. A dignified emperor can't be left to wander the streets, can he? I'll stay here at your residence. I'll return to the palace when my Ganlu Palace is restored to its former glory!"

Suddenly.

The Prince of Hejian and his wife couldn't help but change their expressions.

"What? Xiaogong, you seem a little unwilling?" Li Shimin paused slightly in his hand holding the wine cup, staring at Li Xiaogong with a dangerous look in his eyes.

The latter was so frightened that he shook his head vigorously, like a rattle drum.

"No, no, no, Your Majesty's willingness to stay overnight at my residence is a blessing I have accumulated over countless lifetimes... but..."

Li Xiaogong hesitated for two seconds, then waved away the people around him.

He lowered his voice and moved closer to Li Shimin.

"Your Majesty, will you stay in Chang'an from now on, or will you go to Bingzhou with His Highness the Crown Prince after the New Year?"

Li Shimin frowned.

"What's the point of staying in Chang'an? What's the point of going to Bingzhou?"

Li Xiaogong smacked his lips, cupped his hands, and sighed helplessly.

“If Your Majesty were to stay in Chang’an, I would be willing to risk offending the Emperor Emeritus to allow Your Majesty to stay overnight. Moreover, the matter at Ganlu Palace can be resolved in a maximum of two days… But if Your Majesty does not stay in Chang’an…”

Li Xiaogong said with a bitter expression, "The Emperor Emeritus will not kill me, but the people in the Prince of Hejian's mansion will definitely not be comfortable... I have fought for half my life and have many hidden injuries. I cannot withstand such heavy political affairs."

As he spoke, Li Xiaogong, this tough man, looked like he was about to burst into tears.

Li Shimin: "......."

To be honest, he had never thought about this issue before returning to Chang'an from Taiyuan.

Should he stay in Chang'an to be his emperor, or go to Bingzhou to be his secretary, Li?

It seems that the former sounds more comfortable. At least, there wouldn't be anyone in Chang'an who would be so blind as to criticize the emperor every day.

Even Wei Zheng, who was an advisor, dared not offend him too much now.

But when Li Shimin thought about his days ahead in Chang'an, he almost instantly saw the end in sight...

Seeing Li Shimin remain silent, Li Xiaogong, as a brother who had fought alongside his cousin on the battlefield and helped each other out of piles of corpses, knew exactly what was going on.

Sighed softly.

"Your Majesty, if you leave Chang'an again after the New Year... I'm afraid the Emperor Emeritus might really abandon his post. What will we, his subjects, do then?"

Li Shimin: "......."

After leaving the Prince of Hejian's residence, Li Shimin silently reviewed the ministers in his mind as he sat in his carriage.

After thinking it over, he realized that even brothers like Cheng Yaojin and Yuchi Jingde probably couldn't keep him.

For a moment, Li Shimin couldn't help but sigh in frustration.

"I, the emperor, am no match for my father, no match for my crown prince, and now even the officials and generals are powerless to help me... Fan Qi, why do I feel that I am the one who is the imperial grandson?"

Fan Qi: "???"

Your Majesty, does this mean I no longer need to arrange for someone to take care of me in my old age?

On the first night after the emperor and the crown prince returned to Chang'an, every household was decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations.

It felt like celebrating the Lunar New Year.

However, after touring Chang'an, His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty returned to his palace in disgrace.

East Palace.

"Ouch... Hah! It's so spicy... Quick, yogurt, give me yogurt..."

Li Zhen's face was flushed red as she stuck out her tongue and waved to the eunuch beside her.

At this moment, the East Palace restaurant was filled with steaming hot aromas, completely different from the spicy fragrance of dogwood, which permeated the entire hall, causing many eunuchs and palace maids to swallow their saliva.

Princes Li Chengqian, Li You, and Li Yin, along with Princess Chang Le, Princess Yu Zhang, and the most senior but also the most cautious Prince Lu, Li Yuanchang, were present.

At this moment, everyone's faces were flushed from eating.

Li Chengqian had just picked up a slice of Turkic mutton that had been slightly blanched and curled up a bit.

Mixed with a sesame sauce containing cilantro, sesame oil, scallions, and vinegar, just about to put it in my mouth.

"boom!"

The palace door was kicked open, and Emperor Taizong's old face, filled with a sense of desolation and resentment, came into view.

Facing the gazes cast upon him by his children, Li Er's lips twitched twice.

He looked at Li Chengqian and gritted his teeth.

Prepare a bedchamber for me! I will rest in the Eastern Palace!