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

"Your Majesty, I, Old Cheng, would like to ask you for a favor..."

Seeing Cheng Yaojin, that thick-skinned and ruthless fellow, actually showing such a fawning and embarrassed disgusting appearance, Li Shimin felt an instinctive chill run down his spine.

"Ahem, Your Majesty, as you can see, all of my family's assets were sold off to help our Great Tang Dynasty achieve a great victory over the Turks. Although we still have some surplus grain, we have very little money left. I..."

“Cheng Yaojin, if you want your money back, just say so, Your Majesty. I will make up for the part that Cheng Yaojin is missing. The Ministry of War reported a few days ago that suspicious bandits have been robbing merchant ships in the area between Chang'an and Luoyang.”

Before Cheng Yaojin could finish speaking, Hou Junji interrupted him, and Cheng Yaojin glared at him with his bull-like eyes.

"Go to hell with Hou Junji! Do you think I'm some shameless bastard? I, Old Cheng, would give up my life on the battlefield for the Tang Dynasty and for His Majesty. My mere family fortune is nothing!"

Li Shimin silently watched the other party's performance.

"Hehe, Your Majesty... My whole family, the Cheng family, is currently supported by just one person's salary. These young boys are practically living off their fathers. Now, my sons, Cheng Chumo and Cheng Chuliang, have come of age and, like me, are strong and capable..."

Hou Junji clapped his hands: "So, Lao Cheng, you want your two sons to do manual labor?"

"Fuck you! Go to hell!"

Seeing Cheng Yaojin kick towards him, Hou Junji immediately dodged the kick.

Li Shimin rolled his eyes and stopped the two of them from acting like that.

"You want them both to serve in the Crown Prince's Palace, right?"

"Hehe, Your Majesty's eyes can still see autumn, um..."

Fang Xuanling sighed, speechless, and added, "Keen observation."

"Yes, yes, Your Majesty is very discerning. Hehe, Your Majesty, I, Old Cheng, have never asked you for anything, have I? Right now, I can't even afford to feed these two good-for-nothings at home."

Everyone was speechless. Could you have come up with an even worse excuse?

However, among the crowd, Li Jing suddenly stroked his beard, pondered for a moment, and walked to Li Shimin's side amidst the surprised gazes of the crowd.

He bowed respectfully to Li Shimin.

"Your Majesty, I also wish to request an official position for my son."

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin's eyes lit up.

He didn't care about the military officials of the Eastern Palace. Although the Crown Prince sometimes made shocking remarks and often disregarded laws and public opinion in his actions.

But as a royal heir, Li Shimin was flawless.

Li Jing, a military leader who usually doesn't make many demands, has unusually asked for an official position today, which is undoubtedly a good opportunity to win him over.

Similarly, isn't this also a way for the other party to show goodwill towards you?

Thinking of this, Li Shimin chuckled.

"The apothecary is actually willing to let Dejian come to the East Palace. It seems that you also think highly of my crown prince."

Li Shimin's smile held a hint of smugness.

Upon seeing this, Li Jing immediately smiled.

"Your Highness is exceptionally talented and brave. The fact that you have carefully selected the soldiers of the Eastern Palace's Six Guards shows that you also possess the same ambition that His Majesty had when he conquered the four directions. My son has only achieved so-so in his studies at my home. If he could find a job with Your Highness, I would be at ease."

Cheng Yaojin, standing to the side, nodded repeatedly.

Immediately, Qin Shubao, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and other former officials of the Prince of Qin's mansion also had their own thoughts.

After a brief hesitation with Li Shimin, they nodded and immediately sent someone out of the palace to summon all their sons.

Li Chengqian naturally saw Li Shimin and a group of court officials present.

However, after his emperor father gestured from afar that they should ignore them, he continued to fight against the challengers one by one.

After being strengthened by the Dragon Essence Fruit, and with a medicinal bath once every night, combined with the "Bone Tempering Classic".

Li Chengqian's physical strength was so great that everyone present felt their scalp tingle.

When Cheng Yaojin's descendants arrived at the East Palace under the guidance of the eunuchs, they happened to see Li Chengqian sweeping the end of his spear backward.

He struck down a soldier who was still attempting to attack, knocking him down by the waist.

King Li Tai of Yue immediately proclaimed this.

"Sun Tian, ​​defeated in thirteen moves! He is hereby promoted from centurion to ninth-rank lower-ranking officer and transferred to the Right Guard Commander's Office of the Eastern Palace!"

"A reward of three strings of cash!"

Li Chengqian stood with his spear held horizontally, his breathing still steady, calm and composed, showing no signs of fatigue.

So engrossed in watching that Li Shimin, Cheng Yaojin, and the others were all dumbfounded and completely unaware that Cheng Chumo and his group had arrived.

"My goodness, Your Majesty, isn't the Crown Prince a bit too ridiculously strong?"

"How many is this now?"

Li Shimin remained silent. Those present were all seasoned veterans of the battlefield, and they could tell at a glance whether these soldiers were faking it or really fighting.

Qin Shubao, a fierce general, looked at the Crown Prince Li Chengqian, who stood against the wind and shouted "Next!" like a young general, and felt a sense of desolation, as if the younger generation was pushing the older generation aside.

She let out a soft sigh.

"That's the 105th one. Of those, only a little over 40 were able to withstand more than three moves from His Highness, which is less than half. The most is Liu happy... His Highness's martial prowess is truly extraordinary."

A eunuch whispered a reminder.

"Your Majesty, General Cheng's sons have arrived."

Everyone turned their heads, and Cheng Yaojin saw his two sons who looked like little calves. He, who had been quite confident before, now hesitated.

If this were in front of the entire court today, my son wouldn't even last three moves against His Highness the Crown Prince.

Then Cheng Yaojin should just forget about saving face.

Upon realizing this, Cheng Yaojin's expression instantly turned dangerous.

He pulled his eldest son, Cheng Chumo, who looked panicked, and pointed to the Crown Prince Li Chengqian on the platform.

"Go! Go and fight His Highness the Crown Prince. Show me all your skills. If you embarrass me, I'll throw you all out of the mansion!"

Before Cheng Chumo could react, Cheng Yaojin kicked him in the butt.

Li Shimin and the others watching from the side all shook their heads in silence.

These young calves must have some real strength to have survived Cheng Yaojin's clutches until now.

During their brief chat, Cheng Chumo arrived in front of Li Chengqian with a miserable expression.

Salute respectfully.

"Your Highness, my father has sent me to have a duel with you."

Upon hearing this, Li Chengqian raised an eyebrow in Cheng Yaojin's direction, and the latter became somewhat uneasy under Li Chengqian's gaze.

Your Highness, what kind of look is that?

Are you threatening me, Lao Cheng?

Cheng Yaojin saw Li Chengqian holding a long spear, about to start a fight, when suddenly he thought of something and hurriedly shouted.

"Your Highness, please wait!"

Everyone looked over.

Cheng Yaojin coughed twice and said, "Your Highness, my brothers Chu Mo and Chu Liang have not yet inherited much of my old Cheng's way of weaponry. How about you two learn some martial arts from me?"

Upon hearing this, Hou Junji, who was standing to the side, immediately sneered.

"You shameless scoundrel!"

Li Shimin looked at this guy speechlessly, thinking to himself, "I'm still here, and you're already thinking of making things harder for my son?"

However, upon hearing Cheng Yaojin's request...

Xue Wanche, Li Tai, and the others who had been standing on the sidelines all had strange expressions.

Li Tai, Li Chengqian's younger brother, quickly turned his head away when he saw Cheng Chumo and Cheng Chuliang, who were still clueless about the situation.

He was trying not to laugh.

Okay.

You old monster Cheng, you've finally met your match?

Xue Wanche thought that his elder brother had some connections with Cheng Yaojin and the others, and he opened his mouth to remind them. However, he noticed the Crown Prince's ambiguous smile as he watched him.

He immediately stood obediently to the side.

To serve as an emotionless human sculpture.

Li Chengqian smiled and nodded, without saying much, and casually tossed the silver spear in his hand to Qian Yingying, who was standing to the side.

After the latter left, he smiled and waved to Cheng Chumo in front of him.

"There's no need to hold back."

Cheng Chumo nodded and took a deep breath.

"Your Highness, fists and feet have no eyes, be careful!"

After saying that, he let out a loud shout.

Cheng Chumo rushed to Li Chengqian in an instant. Although he was three or four years older than Li Chengqian, he was as strong as a calf, thanks to the genes of Cheng Yaojin.

The fist, as big as a sandbag, was powerful and heavy. With a sudden swing, it aimed straight at Li Chengqian's face.

however.

Despite the howling wind of the punch, it did not appear so swift to Li Chengqian at this moment.

Li Chengqian kept his lower body still, but suddenly leaned back to dodge.

In an instant, with a step, he had already restrained Cheng Chumo's right arm with one hand and moved to the right side of the other.

A palm strikes the abdomen, the opponent blocks with their arm, and the right foot kicks the back of the opponent's leg.

"Snapped!"

Cheng Chumo, who had just thrown a punch a moment ago, was knocked to his knees by Li Chengqian's few easy moves in the blink of an eye.

Before the other party could react, Li Chengqian had already delivered another palm strike, lightly striking the other party's throat.

"Well!"

Cheng Chumo knelt on the ground, curled up in defeat!

The duel between the two began in full view of everyone, but ended in the blink of an eye.

Xue Wanche and the others shook their heads helplessly, as if to say, "Just as I thought."

However, at this moment, Cheng Yaojin, who was just a moment ago smug and seemed to have gained an advantage, suddenly turned green with anger.

"Hahaha! Zhijie, it seems your Cheng family's martial arts skills are truly unique. Could it be that you unearthed some unparalleled divine skill from some remote mountain valley?"

"This is worse than using weapons. At least His Highness the Crown Prince's spear technique would be much more restrained. Hehe, look at that dark-skinned fellow. Hey, Cheng Zhijie, are you trying to eat me with those bull-like eyes of yours?"

"Hahaha......"

Everyone around him was a formidable figure who had fought alongside Li Shimin to conquer the world.

Despite Cheng Yaojin's outward appearance that he dared not provoke this or that person.

However, among the generals of the Qin King's mansion present, who was willing to admit that they were inferior to their opponent?

Cheng Chuliang stood there, staring blankly at his older brother who had been easily knocked to the ground. Seeing that the other man's appearance was obviously not faking it, he couldn't help but nervously swallow.

Li Chengqian smiled, extended a hand, and waved to him.

"Come on, Chu Liang, I'll be very gentle..."

Cheng Chuliang: "..."

Although Li Chengqian was smiling, his smile was particularly eerie when contrasted with his elder brother Cheng Chumo, who was curled up and writhing on the ground like a maggot.

"Madam..."

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "He is the Crown Prince, not the Empress Dowager."

Cheng Chuliang couldn't understand it, nor could he laugh.

"Your Highness, I..."

He wanted to say that his kung fu was not as good as his elder brother's, but behind him came Cheng Yaojin's angry cursing.

"Cheng Chuliang, if you dare to back down, I'll break your legs when we get back! You were pretty tough when you were at the brothel playing with women, weren't you? Now get your ass!"

Li Shimin suppressed a laugh at Cheng Yaojin's outburst of anger and disbelief.

Not only did it not make him angry, but it also secretly pleased him.

Haha, this is my crown prince!

This is what they call "Like father, like son"!

Li Shimin glanced subtly at the sons of the military generals around him. Hmm, they were all weak and listless, showing no signs of being the offspring of military generals.

Sure enough, if the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will be crooked too!

You fathers can't compare to me, Li Shimin.

Your sons are no match for our Chengqian!

Li Shimin was secretly delighted, but on the surface he coughed twice and reached out to pull the furious Cheng Yaojin.

"Hey, hey, Zhijie, don't be so angry. Kids all go through this. Martial arts skills take time to develop. Don't be fooled by how good the Crown Prince seems now; it's all been honed through hardship and experience."

Cheng Yaojin's lips twitched: "...Your Majesty, please laugh if you want to. The way you are makes me, Old Cheng, feel even worse."

At that moment, Li Shimin could no longer hold back.

"Ha ha ha ha....."

On the other side, seeing that Cheng Chuliang hesitated to come up, Li Chengqian shook his head speechlessly, and suddenly waved to the sons of the generals of the Prince of Qin's mansion not far away.

"You all come at me together, that way it'll save everyone trouble!"