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

"Guanyin's maid..."

"Husband, wife..."

Li Shimin and his companions got out of the carriage.

Whether they had prepared themselves mentally or were ready to return to the afterlife, they had done so beforehand.

The moment Emperor Zhenguan, Li Shimin, stepped out of the carriage, he couldn't help but show obvious nervousness on his face when facing Empress Zhangsun.

As for Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui...

If it weren't for the Imperial Guards supporting them on either side, the two of them would probably have tumbled down the train steps, their legs so weak they seemed not to belong to them.

They looked exactly like the prisoners who were dragged out of the Meridian Gate and prepared to be beheaded.

Empress Zhangsun subtly winked at Madam Du and Madam Fang, who were both angry at their husbands' pathetic behavior.

But she still took the initiative to step forward and help him up.

"If it weren't for Her Majesty the Empress and His Highness the Crown Prince pleading for you today, you old bastard... I would have made you the first ghost in my Great Tang Dynasty to be run over by a train!"

Du Ruhui's eyes twitched, and the moment his body was supported by his wife, he trembled even more violently.

But upon hearing his wife's words, which she had deliberately suppressed and squeezed out between her teeth, a glimmer of hope instantly appeared in his eyes.

Yes, there is a way out!

On the other side, Fang Xuanling watched as his wife's two maids helped her walk towards a carriage. His expression tightened, and the next moment, a sharp pain suddenly shot through his waist.

"hiss!!!"

"If you don't want me to turn against you right now, you'd better hold back!" The sinister voice made Fang Xuanling's face tremble with fear.

Cold sweat instantly broke out on his pale face.

Lady Fang was filled with displeasure, but under the persuasion of Empress Zhangsun and the repeated advice from her maternal relatives, no matter how angry she was that her husband had taken a concubine.

She ultimately had no choice but to make concessions.

But making concessions doesn't mean the matter is over.

Thinking of something that displeased her, Madam Fang secretly twisted her hand again.

Fang Xuanling was in so much pain that he kept stomping his feet.

Empress Zhangsun smiled with relief upon seeing this scene and walked up to Li Shimin, who looked nervous and ashamed.

"Your Majesty, a banquet has been prepared in the palace. It's getting late; let's return immediately..."

The streetlights on the train station platform cast a dim yellow light on Empress Zhangsun's stunningly beautiful face, revealing the same gentle appearance as in my memory.

This caused Li Shimin to momentarily lose his composure, his expression tense.

He opened his mouth, and at this moment he actually hoped that his empress could at least scold or beat him like Madam Fang and Madam Du did.

"Guanyinbi, you...I..."

Li Shimin's embarrassed and ashamed appearance made Li Chengqian, who was standing next to him, twitch at the corner of his mouth and look up at the street lamp.

Emperor Emeritus Li Yuan, however, was looking at his second son Li Shimin, who had just returned.

His face, however, was filled with complex emotions and regret.

Noticing the strange looks he was getting from his grandsons, he couldn't help but sigh softly.

"Erlang, you... you shouldn't have come back..."

Li Shimin was taken aback: "Father, what makes you say that?"

Li Yuan shook his head, took a deep look at Li Shimin, who was still full of energy and looked like a dragon and a tiger, and then silently took the lead to walk onto the carriage next to him.

Royal banquet.

Empress Zhangsun seemed uninterested in mentioning the seven concubines from Shu who had been brought back by Li Shimin. At the dinner table, she mostly inquired about their well-being and asked about their food and lodging in Chengdu.

This made His Majesty the Emperor, who had already been "beaten by his conscience," feel even more ashamed.

"Guanyinbi, I was wrong. I shouldn't have abandoned you all in Chang'an and allowed you to run rampant outside. I..."

Li Shimin looked pitiful and ashamed as he held Empress Zhangsun's hand.

For some reason, the feel of those hands gave him a sense of déjà vu, as if he had touched them sometime recently. However, he quickly dismissed these filthy thoughts.

"Guanyinbi, you can arrange those seven people as you see fit. No matter what, I will have no objections. You will always be the mistress of my harem, and it can only be you!"

Li Shimin, while professing his loyalty, was completely unaware that Li Chengqian, standing to the side, was suppressing a laugh while his shoulders trembled.

All I could do was keep sipping the rice wine in my cup to ease the awkwardness.

Empress Zhangsun, however, remained as gentle as ever.

She gently stroked Li Shimin's cheek with tenderness: "Your Majesty, why do you say that? You are away from home, busy with state affairs. How could I blame you if you have someone to take care of you?"

"Isn't the purpose of me, the mistress of the harem, to allow Your Majesty to focus on state affairs without being bothered by trivial matters?"

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

Such tenderness, yet every word is like a knife!

"Guanyinbi, why don't you give me a beating!"

"Snapped!"

"what!!!"

"Madam, I was wrong, I was wrong! Please, please don't use the knife! I was forced into this! His Majesty forced me to do it!"

"His Majesty forced you? Fine, His Majesty didn't force you to die, but instead forced you to enjoy beauties, is that it? You surnamed Fang! Do you know how I spent the past year while you were in Chengdu?!"

"What you've got is a life of debauchery for me, while my son Yi'ai is out there fighting and making a name for himself on the battlefield, and you, as his father, have been quietly bringing him back a little one. Stop right there!"

"These days, who in Chang'an doesn't say that you, Fang Xuanling, are still as sharp as ever? What, when you come to me, your sword has rusted?!"

The Duke of Ying's Mansion.

Hearing Fang Xuanling's panicked screams, which could still be clearly heard even across an alley, Duke Ying of Wu Shiyue couldn't help but shake his head repeatedly.

"Sigh, being a housekeeper isn't easy..."

He seemed to have thought of something, and couldn't help but give instructions to his eldest daughter, Wu Shun, who was pouring tea beside him.

"His Highness the Crown Prince may seem easy to talk to on ordinary days, but deep down he is a man who does not tolerate any dissent. If you are to offer advice in the future, you must think carefully about how to do it... The Crown Prince is a reasonable person, so you must learn to use a gentle approach."

Soft approach...

Wu Shun thought of some things her mother had recently told her about things she needed to understand before getting married, and her head began to spin.

Wu Shiyue listened to Xuanling's loud and pitiful scream from the next room while sipping his tea.

"Tsk tsk tsk, marrying a virtuous wife, that's truly true..."

He thought of his wife, Xiangli, whom he had exiled back to his hometown, and his two sons who had recently been misbehaving.

Wu Shiyue narrowed his eyes slightly.

The two sons raised by Xiangli were petty thieves who spent their days stealing chickens and dogs and bullying others.

On the other hand, the three daughters raised by Madam Yang have a bright future: one was betrothed to a concubine by the Crown Prince, another got along well with the current Prince of Jin, and the stock exchange she set up is also attracting the attention of His Highness the Crown Prince.

The youngest daughter is currently attending the First Official School and is also excelling academically...

"Hiss... It seems there are some things I should start preparing for. I don't want His Highness the Crown Prince to have to waste his energy on the trivial matters of the Duke of Ying's mansion in the future!"

It was September.

The day of the Crown Prince's wedding is drawing ever closer.

Meanwhile, the number of foreign faces in Chang'an and Taiyuan Prefecture was increasing day by day.

Today, the might of the Tang Dynasty is like the red sun in the sky, so that no neighboring country dares to show the slightest disrespect.

The wedding of the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty, whose status even surpassed that of the Emperor, was attended by envoys and gifts from larger vassal states such as Yeon Taejo, the pseudo-king of Goguryeo who was currently opposing the Tang Dynasty, and Japan, which was currently being ravaged by the King of Han.

The Tibetan Empire, Yangtong Kingdom, Zhangzhung Kingdom, and Nepal Kingdom on the plateau...

The Buddhist temples and monasteries of Harsha in India, and further west in Sassanid Persia and Arabia.

And some small countries, with only a few cities, were even more numerous.

However, even though these countries may have different languages, beliefs, and civilizations.

But after arriving in the Tang Dynasty and witnessing its splendor, wealth, and all sorts of advanced and wondrous things, they no longer cared about the beliefs and gods they spoke of.

They all looked as if they didn't dare to even mention it.

The officials of the Ministry of Rites were also extremely busy with this matter.

Some countries, smaller than even a single prefecture of the Tang Dynasty, came here to claim my subservience, pay tribute, and establish diplomatic relations, leaving them unsure whether to laugh or cry.

tmd!

You guys don't even know how to write a letter of credence, what kind of diplomatic relations are you trying to establish?

They're all a bunch of beggars who came to freeload!

"No, no! All of them are gone!"

The Imperial Palace, the Eastern Palace Xiande Hall.

The extremely diligent Crown Prince Li Chengqian was so annoyed that he simply locked himself in his bedchamber and covered his head with the blanket.

Outside the door, Wang De looked at Li Tai, the Prince of Wei, who was leaning against a pillar with a helpless and humble expression.

"Your Highness, Prince Wei, why don't you try to persuade them? His Majesty and the Empress are waiting..."

Li Tai chewed on a raisin, but upon hearing this, his face showed more schadenfreude.

They shouted towards the inside of the hall.

"Brother, why don't you come out and take a look? Those women have all been carefully selected by Mother and Father; each one is the best in terms of looks and figure!"

"Brother, these are all beauties presented as tribute from foreign lands. If you agree, our Great Tang can gain hundreds of vassal states without lifting a finger!"

"Brother Emperor~~~"

"Everything is for the people of my Great Tang Dynasty!"

"roll!!!"

Li Tai's smile deepened, and he helplessly shrugged at Wang De, who was almost in tears.

"Well, even I can't do anything about it."

Inside the palace, Li Chengqian, lying in bed, had a gloomy expression.

Hearing the commotion outside the hall, he muttered curses under his breath.

"Damn it... do you really think I'm Tang Sanzang? You think one bite will grant you immortality?!"

"A bunch of savages so poor they're practically selling their pants, dare to talk about submitting to me and paying tribute... Do they really think I'm some stupid son of a damn landlord?!"

Li Shimin was dazzled by the concubines sent to his sons by various countries.

Empress Zhangsun and the other concubines were also there watching the spectacle.

And at the same time.

Inside the Foreign Affairs Office of the Court of State Ceremonial in Chang'an, the envoys from various countries were all on edge, as if everyone around them was their father's killer.

The animosity between the Sassanid Persian envoys and the Arab envoys was the most intense.