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

"Your Highness, the Queen of Silla has sent another letter..." Wang De carefully placed a letter on Li Chengqian's desk.

Today, the documents were moved to Xiande Hall, and Li Tai, who was reviewing them with his elder brother, the Emperor, immediately raised an eyebrow.

They didn't even give Li Chengqian a chance to react.

With lightning speed, he instantly grabbed the new house and, with a few nimble movements, used the Bagua Walking Step to hide behind a table and chairs.

Under Li Chengqian's helpless gaze, he tore open the letter.

Looking at the contents of the letter, after reading only one line, a smile appeared on his lips, clearly indicating physical discomfort.

"Huh... what utter nonsense... Oh my, Silla women actually understand Tang Dynasty poetry? And they even wrote love poems for my royal brother... This is simply showing off their limited skills before an expert, making a laughing stock of themselves!"

Li Tai glanced at his elder brother, the Emperor, and then noticed the curious gazes of the other men in the hall, including the Prince of Han and the Prince of Liang, whom he had conscripted.

Suddenly he chuckled.

"There's also a poem here dedicated to our royal brother~ Let me read it to you..."

"Cough cough!"

"Qingque!" Li Chengqian's face showed a rare hint of embarrassment as he tried to stop him.

however.

Li Tai, who had been on guard against him, had already raised his voice.

“Dongjing Luobi admires Tang Hui”

The new policies in Taiyuan are hard to ignore.

Crown Prince Chengqian's reputation is far-reaching.

May we unite as one heart and share the morning sun.

“Eh~ wishing to be united in heart~” Li Tai shook the love letter in his hand, his face covered in sweat.

"What kind of wretched place is Silla? How dare this lowly servant girl claim to share the same dawn with the Crown Prince of my Great Tang? What do you mean? Are you suggesting that the sun and moon of my Great Tang be shared with Silla?!"

"Sixth brother, tell me, isn't this a case of that vile Silla woman showing her true colors? She's trying to seduce my brother and take over the entire Tang Dynasty!"

Li Yin: "......."

After returning from the New Year celebrations this year, he felt that his fourth brother, who was in charge of the country, seemed a little off.

But I can't quite put my finger on what's wrong.

He looked at his elder brother, Prince Li Ke of Han, only to see the latter gently shake his head.

King Li Zhen of Yue stroked his chin, lost in thought.

"Wow, you know what, you guys really have to admit, when you think about it carefully, that Kindeman really does have some big ambitions!"

"Right! Eighth Brother, you think so too, don't you? I also think that this Silla slut must have ulterior motives. Our Great Tang seized their Kim clan's military power and took control of their country, and now their queen wants to have a child for our Great Tang Crown Prince?"

"Is this reasonable?"

Lee Tae excitedly waved the love letter from the Queen of Silla in his hand, looking as excited as if he had passed the imperial examination with top honors.

Li Chengqian chuckled and shook his head.

"Qingque, do you now see me as a fool blinded by beauty?"

Li Tai's expression froze: "I, of course I didn't mean that!"

"Your Majesty, it doesn't matter if your future concubine is Sister Yingying, or someone from the Duke of Ying's mansion, or from the Wang or Zheng families. These people are, after all, subjects of our Great Tang. To marry a Silla maid... wouldn't that tarnish the royal bloodline?"

Li Chengqian slammed his hand on the table in a huff.

"When did I ever say I was going to marry her? Don't you all know the saying, 'Once you've pulled up your pants, you forget about them'?"

Li Tai, Li Ke, Li Yin, and Li Zhi: "???"

Li Zhen's lips twitched. Having studied Tang law, he opened his mouth, wanting to say, "Your Majesty, this is illegal."

But considering Kim Deok-man's Silla identity, she ultimately kept quiet.

Somehow, the words spoken by Crown Prince Li Chengqian today reached the ears of Empress Zhangsun.

Consort Yang was gentle and refined by nature. Upon hearing these words, she simply pursed her lips, lowered her head, and remained silent.

Consort Yin, however, opened her mouth wide in surprise.

"Are you sure the Crown Prince said this himself?!"

"I...I only heard what Eunuch Wang was saying when I was passing by the Ganlu Palace..." the palace maid replied nervously, her head bowed.

Consort Yin: "...I always thought His Highness the Crown Prince would be a virtuous gentleman."

Her expression was blank, as if her faith had collapsed.

Consort Wei simply smiled and shook her head, sighing without saying a word.

Empress Zhangsun took a deep breath, looked out the window, and gazed at the distant southern sky.

He was muttering to himself.

"Do you think this is a case of 'like father, like son,' or 'if the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will be crooked too'?"

"Cough cough, no! Absolutely not! If the Empress finds out, she'll definitely skin me alive!"

In Jiannan Road, Chengdu Prefecture, within the Qing Shu Palace.

Li Shimin shook his head vigorously, like a rattle drum.

Upon hearing this, Lu Shiming and the others immediately became anxious.

"Your Majesty! This is opening up new territories for the country. We can bring Langqiong Zhao to submit to the Tang Dynasty without bloodshed. With Langqiong Zhao's support, it will be a piece of cake for us to take down the other five Zhao."

"You're merely bestowing upon her the position of an ordinary concubine; you don't even need to bring her back to Chang'an. Keeping her here in Qing Shu Palace is perfectly fine..."

"Yes, Your Majesty! The daughters of the tribal chiefs of Langqiong Zhao are indeed beautiful, with excellent figures and personalities. If Your Majesty sleeps with her, we can take over the entire Langqiong Zhao!"

"Your Majesty, it's merely the falling of jade dew..."

"enough!"

Li Shimin was so embarrassed by these guys that he felt like he, the emperor, was being persuaded to engage in prostitution.

Hearing these guys talking more and more incoherently, he got so angry that he started cursing and interrupting them on the spot.

"I raised you lot, but you didn't step up when it was time to conquer cities and seize territories. What, now you've put me in the spotlight? Is this how you serve as ministers?!"

"Lu Shiming, if I asked you to sleep with the daughter of the leader of Langqiong Zhao, would you?!"

Li Shimin angrily pointed at Lu Shiming, who was in the lead.

however.

The latter, however, stubbornly refused to move.

"Sleep! Why aren't you sleeping?!"

Li Shimin was stunned, his eyes wide: "...You bastard, didn't you say that you and your wife had a deep affection for each other? That you were childhood sweethearts?"

Lu Shiming, however, seemed to have suffered a great humiliation.

The loudest voice immediately began to argue.

"What kind of idiot are you, demanding money like that? Do you think I'm a henpecked husband?!"

"Wealth and honor are right before your eyes, how can you be so foolish as to not be able to tell the difference? If you sleep with that leader of the Langqiong Zhao tribe's daughter, you'll be promoted and make a fortune!"

Lu Shiming spread his hands, looking at the crowd behind him: "Don't you all think this makes sense?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"That's right! Your Majesty, Governor Lu is absolutely right! As the saying goes, women are like clothes, but clothes are not as good as official robes. The redder the official robes, the more blood will flow every day!"

"Your Majesty, it's only because I'm ugly that I'm willing to sacrifice myself for the country!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, we have taken down Langqiong Zhao. If the other five Zhao have similar problems afterward, just pass me on. I'm not bragging, but when I was young, girls practically gave me money!"

"Your Majesty, you are not wronged! Langqiong Zhao is rich in Chinese medicinal herbs, with lingzhi mushrooms and ginseng everywhere!"

Du Ruhui and Fang Xuanling stood aside, watching their emperor's face turn red with embarrassment.

They all lowered their heads, their lips trembling uncontrollably, and their shoulders swaying slightly.

"Xuanling, Keming, what do you mean? Wait, are you laughing?"

Li Shimin had just turned his head, intending to ask Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui for their opinions, when he saw the two of them suppressing laughter and trembling like leaves, and his face immediately darkened.

"No, cough cough, ha... umm, cough cough, Your Majesty, I wasn't laughing, I was just... just... just thinking about something happy."

Fang Xuanling covered his mouth, trying his best to restrain himself, but under Li Shimin's fierce gaze, he could only offer a weak and embarrassed explanation.

Li Shimin sneered, "What? Did your wives give you a son after you've been away from home for a year? How about I generously send an imperial edict to your residence to commend you and your wives for your deep affection?"

"Cough cough, no need, no need, Your Majesty, please forgive me, I... huff huff huff."

He stared at the two of them for a long time before they finally returned to normal.

"I ask you, regarding the matter of Lang Qiongzhao's marriage of his daughter, do you think our Great Tang should agree?"

Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui bowed and said, "We rely entirely on Your Majesty's decisive judgment!"

Li Shimin almost fainted from anger.

"......"

He had a gloomy face, and his mind was in turmoil.

Seeing that he was still hesitating for a long time, Lu Shiming and the other civil and military officials of Chengdu Prefecture exchanged glances.

"Your Majesty, it is already the fourth year of Zhenguan. Don't you want the first victory report of the new year for our Great Tang to be sent back to Chang'an from your position as General Tian Ce?"

Qiang Ben coughed twice: "Your Majesty, I received a report from the Ministry of War in Chang'an that a country called Sassanid Persia has become a vassal state of our Great Tang Dynasty, further west in the Western Regions. The Emperor Emeritus has once again expanded the territory of the Great Tang Dynasty."

Li Shimin: "!!!"

Lu Shiming leaned closer and lowered his voice.

"Your Majesty, you don't want to be forgotten by the people of Chang'an. They still want an Emperor Zhenguan, don't they?"

Li Shimin gasped.

His frown deepened.

Upon seeing this, everyone was instantly overjoyed.

Lu Shiming greeted a group of Chengdu government officials.

"Let's cheer His Majesty on! Come on, shout out our slogan!"

"To succeed, you must first go crazy!"

Everyone: "Charge forward regardless of everything!"

"Take a gamble once, and your family will be rich for three generations!"

Everyone: "The title of duke or marquis is passed down through three generations!"

Lu Shiming and the others were all in a frenzy, surrounding Emperor Zhenguan.

"Your Majesty, let's arrange a marriage alliance!"