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

Chaos reigned in Chang'an as urgent letters from various ministries, Empress Zhangsun, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and other departments reached Li Chengqian's hands.

It was presented to Li Chengqian in a very intuitive and clear way.

What frustrated him even more was...

Now, even he, the crown prince, probably has to grit his teeth and cooperate with these guys in Chang'an, trying every means to persuade Li Tai to stay in Chang'an to oversee the country.

After all, Chang'an can't really be leaderless.

"Your Highness, I was forced into this situation. His Majesty ordered the Hundred Cavalry to secretly abduct my infant son... I had no choice but to betray His Highness Prince Wei!"

Dou Cai cried out loudly, filled with grief and grievance.

His travel-worn appearance, coupled with his expression that revealed no flaws and the torrential tears, truly made him look like someone who had been forced into a corner.

However, only heaven knows how much of this Li Chengqian believed.

Li Chengqian ignored him and instead turned to look at Qianlou, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, who was in the Shougong Hall at that moment.

"Where is the Emperor going? Has the Embroidered Uniform Guard received any news?"

Qianlou shook his head and sighed.

"Your Highness, His Majesty and Chancellor Fang have worked together to conceal the truth this time. The Imperial Guards in Chang'an and Luoyang have not had time to react. All we know so far is that His Majesty and his entourage are definitely heading south, and most likely they will not go to Jiangnan Circuit."

"But whether it will be Lingnan Road or Jiannan Road... the Embroidered Uniform Guard is still investigating."

“Tsk…” Li Chengqian shook his head.

"They're certainly good at running, and they chose the south, where my control is still weak. It seems they have no plans to return to Chang'an anytime soon..."

Even Li Gang and Yu Shinan, inside the Shougong Hall, didn't dare to interrupt on this matter.

The emperor fled, abandoning Chang'an.

This must be a matter of national importance.

But in the Tang Dynasty of today, this matter can be more accurately described as a family affair.

As long as His Highness the Crown Prince handles things well, there will be no chaos in Chang'an, and the Tang Dynasty will continue to prosper as before...

only......

Li Gang and Yu Shinan exchanged a glance. The current Prince Wei was definitely a powder keg, ready to explode at any moment.

Consider the other person's proud nature.

And think about it, the person setting this up for him is still his father, Emperor Li Shimin.

Li Gang and his companion sighed inwardly once more.

“Alas, my father has now learned to use me as a pawn… He’s using the pretense of food shortages on my side to coordinate with the Prince of Jing…” Li Chengqian paused slightly.

His gaze swept lightly over the kneeling figure in the main hall.

A faint humming sound seemed to escape from his nose.

This caused Li Yuanjing, who was already covered in cold sweat and pale-faced, to shudder again.

"Your Highness, spare me! I... I'll never dare to do it again! Your Highness, spare me!"

He banged his head repeatedly on the floor of the Shougong Hall.

Despite being Li Chengqian's sixth uncle and elder, Li Yuanjing remained silent and unresponsive to his ruthless nephew ever since entering the palace.

They didn't even dare to mention Li Chengqian's status as the emperor's uncle once.

Wang De strode in.

"Your Highness, the Prince of Lu requests an audience!"

Upon hearing that his younger brother, Lao Qi, had arrived, a glimmer of hope shone in Li Yuanjing's eyes.

When Li Yuanchang was to marry Baoyu, he adorned his hands and neck with gold and silver.

With his nouveau riche air, Li Yuanjing's pupils involuntarily contracted when he entered the Shougong Hall.

Swallowing hard, he snapped out of his daze and quickly sent a pleading look to the other person.

Li Yuanchang kept his eyes straight ahead.

After entering, he respectfully bowed and greeted Li Chengqian in a very formal manner.

"Prince Lu greets His Highness the Crown Prince. May His Highness be well!"

Li Chengqian waved his hand casually, still looking down at the letters sent by the others in Chang'an.

The letters were a thick stack.

Or it could be a case of the disastrous consequences, like the statement by Duan Lun, the Minister of Works, that "without His Highness Prince Wei in charge of the overall situation in Chang'an, the construction of the railway may be hindered."

Or it could be the kind of thing that comes from Tang Jian, the Minister of Rites, who said, "I am old and frail, and cannot bear the burden of government affairs. I request to retire."

Alternatively, the Minister of War, Li Shiji, could shift the blame by saying, "The Ministry of War can send government affairs to Taiyuan Prefecture by fast horse every month for the Crown Prince to review."

Everyone's meaning was exactly the same as that of their own mother, Empress Zhangsun, in her letter.

"Political affairs always need to be handled. If Qingque doesn't do it, then Gaoming, you'll have to do it. Gaoming, you're a filial son. You can't expect your mother to manage both the inner palace and the court, causing her hair to fall out in clumps, can you?"

Li Chengqian: "Hiss..."

Headache!

After reading through all the letters, Li Chengqian felt his body instinctively begin to drift off into drowsiness.

He couldn't help but rub his temples.

"Let's brainstorm and brainstorm together. How can we get Qingque to stay in Chang'an to oversee the country?"

He glanced around, and everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

Wang Ming felt helpless as Li Chengqian's gaze finally settled on him.

At this moment, they had no choice but to step forward.

"Your Highness, in my humble opinion, people will not listen to advice when they are angry, especially when their anger is at its peak... What I mean is that if we want His Highness the Prince of Wei to calm down and listen to advice on overseeing the country, the first thing we need to do is to calm His Highness the Prince of Wei down."

Everyone nodded, and Li Chengqian also nodded.

He pondered, "When Qingque is in a bad mood, he either leads the musketeers out to suppress bandits, or he simply finds something to blow up."

He stroked his chin: "Are there any bandits around Chang'an?"

Qianlou immediately shook his head.

Are you kidding me?

The capital region, not to mention the current state of the nation, which enjoys peace and prosperity under the new policies and good strategies.

Where would anyone turn to banditry, and where would anyone need to live such a life?

"Tsk, that's going to be difficult. We can't really let that kid blow up the Taiji Hall and Ganlu Hall, can we..." Li Chengqian shook his head.

however.

Standing beside Wang Ming, Wang Qingyun, the Sima of Bingzhou, seemed to glance at Li Yuanjing, who was kneeling in the center of the hall.

Such a subtle change in expression was instantly noticed by Zheng Wuling, the eldest son of the Zheng family of Xingyang, who was also present.

"Your Highness, it seems that Commander Wang has a brilliant plan!"

Wang Ming was shocked!

Wang Qingyun's expression changed instantly, and he didn't even have time to curse Zheng Wuling in his heart for being despicable.

The next moment, Li Chengqian's sharp gaze fell on him.

"Oh? Commander Wang, do you have a good plan?"

Wang Qingyun's body tensed instantly, and he nervously stepped forward and clasped his hands in greeting.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, has not..."

Zheng Wuling: "Your Highness, perhaps there is something that is not appropriate to say here?"

Wang Qingyun: "!!!"

He gritted his teeth and lowered his head, but his hidden gaze collided fiercely with Zheng Wuling's sidelong glance.

Zheng Wuling sneered inwardly.

Wang Qingyun of the Taiyuan Wang family, when my Xingyang Zheng family was forced to marry that Turkic princess, didn't you happily drink several cups of wedding wine?

This official would also like to taste your Wang family's funeral wine!

Li Chengqian was no fool. After calmly glancing at the two men, he finally turned his gaze slowly to Prince Jing, Li Yuanjing, who was beginning to tremble violently.

His eyes narrowed, and the way he stroked his chin seemed to slow down a bit.

It seemed as if he was deep in thought.

The murderous aura seemed to descend from above, and Li Yuanjing felt as if he were about to lose control of his bladder. Large beads of sweat were splattered onto the floor in front of him as he kowtowed and begged for mercy.

Li Yuanchang was shocked; he had truly seen through it.

This Crown Prince might really use his uncle Li Yuanjing as a sacrifice.

"Your Highness, I have something to say!"

Seeing Li Chengqian nod in agreement, Li Yuanchang quickly continued speaking.

"In my opinion, the reason why His Highness the Prince of Wei is so angry this time is simply because of the crimes committed by the Prince of Jing. Selling grain privately from the imperial court, even if it is not 50,000 shi, is still a serious crime!"

"I believe... it would be better to send him back to Chang'an and let His Highness Prince Wei decide what to do!"

"Seventh brother, you... Your Highness, no, you can't! If you throw me back, I'll die! Prince Wei will definitely not let me off!"

"Your Highness, I did all that under His Majesty's orders! It was all His Majesty's orders!"

Tears mingled with sweat; the panicked and terrified Prince Jing, Li Yuanjing, no longer cared about maintaining his dignity.

The image of Li Tai leading his men into Chang'an that day haunted him like a nightmare on the night he traveled to Taiyuan.

He won't forget.

Li Tai... is a ruthless man who, like the Crown Prince before him, crawled out of piles of corpses during the war against the Eastern Turks.

The landlords, powerful clansmen, bandits, and corrupt officials around Luoyang were killed one after another.

If he were sent back to Chang'an, he probably wouldn't even be able to save his life.

They couldn't even keep their bodies intact!

"Hmph! My father's decree? Prince Jing, are you saying that your embezzlement of those ten thousand shi of grain was also my father's decree?" Li You sneered.

Li Zhen, standing to the side, narrowed his eyes but nodded slightly to his elder brother.

“Brother, I think Seventh Uncle is right. Our Great Tang has the Tang Law, not to mention that anyone who embezzles more than three hundred taels in Bingzhou will be skinned alive and stuffed with straw, and given ten thousand shi of grain…”

"It's a capital offense in Chang'an, there's no reason why we can live in Taiyuan. If the people find out, won't they say that our Tang Dynasty royal family is no different from the Yang family of the previous dynasty?"

Li Yuanjing stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

It's unbelievable that not only Li Chengqian, this ruthless character who killed his own uncle, Prince Qi, Li Yuanji, but also those of his imperial uncles, he didn't care about their lives at all.

Even his younger brothers.

So heartless!

This is completely different from what Your Majesty promised me!

Upon hearing this, Li Chengqian nodded.

"In that case, send Prince Jing, Li Yuanjing, to Chang'an, along with his case file and confession, for Prince Wei to decide!"

Li Yuanchang suddenly cupped his hands and spoke loudly.

"Your Highness, I am willing to personally take charge of escorting them!"

Li Chengqian gave him a deep look and waved his hand in tacit approval.

After Li Yuanjing, who had already fainted from fright, was carried away, the officials of Taiyuan Prefecture also took their leave and returned to their respective offices to handle government affairs.

Li Chengqian, in the Shougong Hall, pondered for a long time, but with Qian Yingying serving him, he picked up a writing brush.

The familiar, vigorous, and sharp strokes of the Slender Gold style calligraphy are as resolute as a drawn sword of imperial power.

Now, perhaps because of the content of the letters, they have acquired a certain subtle smoothness.

"My younger brother, Qingque..."

.......

"Your Highness, it's done! It's done! This batch is of excellent quality!"

Department of Ceramics, Faculty of Arts, Imperial University.

As the porcelain, fired to a fiery red, cooled in water, it revealed its true form to the crowd, still retaining a slight warmth.

Li Chengqian looked at the tea set and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hahaha, the art of porcelain making is truly wondrous! If it weren't for your help, I'm afraid it would have taken me years to successfully fire such a fine piece..."

He picked up the cooled teacup and examined it carefully for a long time before solemnly placing it in the brocade box in Wang De's hand.

"Send that calligraphy, along with my letter, to Chang'an by fast horse!"