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

"Wang De, go and fetch me the map of the Eastern Turkic royal court that we seized..."

"Wang De, bring me the geomantic map of Hedong Road as well."

"Wang De, go and see if you brought back the summary report from the Bingzhou Road Canal Transport Office this time..."

"Wang De..."

If we were to say what the people of the Tang Dynasty praised the most, it would be the curved plow and the hand warmer.

This year, the snowfall around Chang'an has been quite heavy. In previous years, even within Chang'an city itself, many people would have frozen to death.

however.

This year, everyone stayed home, warm and cozy, without worrying about the snow and wind outside.

The Crown Prince's Eastern Palace, despite having returned to Chang'an from Bingzhou and with the year-end approaching.

Crown Prince Li Chengqian, however, showed no intention of giving himself a break.

After attending two banquets held at the imperial palace and getting acquainted with some officials and members of the imperial family, he returned to his work routine in Bingzhou.

Princess Chang Le rested her chin on her hand, looking at her elder brother with admiration. Facing a table full of geomantic maps and various documents, she appeared to be commanding the country, her little face flushed.

"Your Majesty, the New Year is almost here, and all the officials are preparing for their holidays. Father has not held a court meeting for several days. Only you are busy here. Aren't you tired, Your Majesty?"

Li Chengqian chuckled softly, jotting something down in a small notebook with a pencil in his hand.

He glanced at the sand table next to him every now and then.

"Tired? Why would I be tired? Lizhi, do you feel tired watching your candy shop grow bigger and bigger every day, expanding from Chang'an to Taiyuan, to Luoyang, to Jiangnan, and even overseas?"

In an instant, Chang Le's mind conjured up images of carriages laden with gold, transporting it from all directions back to Chang'an and into her pocket.

In an instant, he suddenly understood why his elder brother was able to be so diligent every day.

She pouted.

"If Father Emperor were half as diligent as you, my elder brother, Chang'an wouldn't be as prosperous as Taiyuan Prefecture now."

Li Chengqian paused slightly in his pencil hand, frowning.

"What has Father been doing these past few days?"

Chang Le shook his head.

"I'm not sure, but he meets with the ministers almost every day at the Ganlu Hall."

Li Chengqian nodded slightly.

......

"No, no, have you lost your mind? A beauty saving a hero? How could you, Cheng Yaojin, come up with such a thing! I want Chengqian to have a woman he admires, not a fool he admires!"

"Save my Chengqian? Ha! Even if that kid can't be beaten, no one in the entire Chang'an can catch him. Besides, do you think the Eastern Palace's Embroidered Uniform Guards are blind?!"

Li Shimin gradually became irritable, pacing back and forth in the Ganlu Hall as he looked at the group of old ministers from the Qin Prince's Mansion and Pei Ji and a few other veteran ministers from the Wude era.

These top figures of the Tang Dynasty all frowned deeply when faced with yet another rejection from Emperor Taizong.

They would occasionally exchange a few words in hushed tones.

Those who know can also see that these people are plotting to find a suitable candidate for Crown Prince's consort.

Those who don't know might think Li Shimin was going to attack Goguryeo...

“Your Majesty, we have been discussing this for so long, but what if His Highness the Crown Prince does not come out? I believe that no matter how suitable our candidates are, given the Crown Prince’s aversion to such matters, if we send people directly to his door, it may backfire.”

"We should first try to get His Highness the Crown Prince out of the Eastern Palace, then we can arrange some coincidences, right?"

Fang Xuanling pondered for a moment, and finally said something useful.

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin nodded repeatedly.

"That's right, that's something I overlooked. That rebellious son is busy in the Eastern Palace every day. I don't understand how he can still find so much work for himself at the end of the year..."

Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui exchanged a subtle glance.

They all sighed inwardly.

Is His Highness the Crown Prince just looking for trouble?

It's clear that Your Majesty has no sense of duty!

Li Shimin stroked his beard, pondering how to get the crown prince out of the Eastern Palace.

Thinking back to the astonishing actions of his crown prince at the family banquet a couple of days ago, even though it was just a misunderstanding, Li Shimin was genuinely afraid.

When he was still the Crown Prince, he had already married Empress Zhangsun.

However, to this day, there has not been any news of the Crown Prince being intimate with any woman.

suddenly.

He seemed to have thought of something and suddenly slammed his hand on the table.

"I've got it!"

"Sun Yi, go and fetch the box that the Crown Prince gave me the other day. Also... summon my sons and tell them that if they truly want the Crown Prince to be well, then they should not disturb him!"

A mysterious smile appeared on Li Shimin's lips.

Seeing the strange looks from the group of key ministers, he chuckled lightly.

"My lords, do not worry. With the help of my sons, it will be easy to persuade the Crown Prince, as the Emperor's elder brother, to leave the Eastern Palace and seek opportunities for our grand plan..."

Everyone looked at each other.

What was supposed to be a suitable match for the Crown Prince has somehow become absurd, giving the impression that His Majesty is trying to stage a Xuanwu Gate Incident for the Crown Prince.

Soon, Sun Yi, along with a group of princes led by Li Ke and Li Tai, appeared at Ganlu Palace.

Li Shimin straightened his expression.

"Ahem, you all came here without alerting the Crown Prince, didn't you?"

Li Tai shook his head: "Father, is there something wrong? If my elder brother has made a mistake that angered you... my elder brother has done nothing wrong."

Li Shimin: "......"

Taking a deep breath and suppressing the urge to ask Sun Yi to bring the horsewhip, Li Shimin cleared his throat.

“Your elder brother is of marriageable age now, but during the six months you spent with him in Bingzhou, did you ever see him being intimate with any woman?”

Li Tai and Li Ke exchanged a glance and shook their heads.

“Your Majesty is busy with political and military affairs every day. Wang Ming of the Wang family of Taiyuan has mentioned their eldest daughter to Your Majesty more than once, but Your Majesty has remained unmoved... Even on the day he set off from Bingzhou to return to Chang'an, Wang Ming did not give up.”

Hear the words.

Among the assembled officials in the Ganlu Hall, Zheng Jiang, the head of the Zheng family of Xingyang, immediately became anxious.

"Your Majesty, that Wang Ming is truly a wolf in sheep's clothing, actually attempting to covet the position of Crown Princess. This is utterly disloyal!"

Li Shimin snorted lightly and glanced at the guy indifferently.

"When your Zheng clan of Xingyang went north, you didn't take no women from your clan with you to Bingzhou. Did I stop you? Wasn't it because your Zheng women were incompetent? My crown prince didn't make a single move."

Zheng Jiang's face flushed instantly, and he stammered, unable to say anything for a long time after bowing.

The eldest daughter of the Zheng family in Xingyang was just as beautiful as the Wang family's daughter.

The family was also from a prominent clan, descended from five famous families and seven prominent clans.

In any other place, that would be an in-law relationship that everyone would fight tooth and nail for.

however.

If the subject were Li Chengqian, the Tang Dynasty's crown prince who presided over the new policies, destroyed the Eastern Turks, and forced several of the five noble families and seven prominent clans to their deaths.

That's really not enough.

In terms of status, he is the crown prince; who in the world dares to say that he is more noble than him?

In terms of ability, the achievements of Bingzhou Road, and the fact that the two Eastern Turkic Khans, Jieli and Tuli, are still imprisoned in Chang'an Prison, are the most powerful proof.

In terms of wealth... this angered the Crown Prince. The property of the Zheng family of Xingyang was now the Crown Prince's property!

Zheng Jiang fell silent.

Li Shimin then gave a soft hum and looked at his sons again.

"I will not hide it from you. The crown prince is the foundation of the country. I am not demanding that the crown prince marry the crown princess immediately, but he should at least have a suitable girl he likes. Only in this way can your mother and I feel at ease and prevent him from picking up any bad habits."

Li Ke and Li Tai, who had a deep-seated memory of their father's murderous glare two days prior due to that misunderstanding, nodded hastily.

If that's the case, then keeping it from my elder brother doesn't seem like a bad idea.

Li Shimin waved the "wishing scrolls" in his hand, first glaring at Li You, who wished to "beat the instructors of the Imperial Academy a hundred times with a slap on the hand."

She glared at Li Zhi, who had wished for "a bag of candies of various flavors every month."

Take a deep breath.

"These are the things your royal brother asked me for. I've made some revisions to some parts that weren't quite right, and they've already been stamped with the imperial seal. Now all you have to do is go to your royal brother one by one and have him come in person to receive your imperial decrees of reward!"

"Remember, make him come in person!"

East Palace.

"What? I have to go in person to receive this worthless imperial decree? Is Sun Yi crippled, or has he been dumped on the imperial estate?"

Li Chengqian, who was busy discussing the Yellow River water conservancy project in Bingzhou after the new year with several water conservancy engineering talents summoned from the simulated world, heard Li Ke's words.

In shock, he immediately started cursing.

The initial estimates from the crowd indicated that the site selection and the first phase of river construction would require an investment of at least tens of millions of strings of cash, which made Li Chengqian, who was somewhat displeased, even more so.

At this moment, he speaks without any restraint.

Li Ke lowered his head: "Brother, Father insists that you go in person. I went there to plead with him, but he just won't allow it..."

As Li Ke spoke, he knelt before his elder brother, the emperor, to repent.

My dear brother, all of this is for your future. I truly didn't want to lie to you...

Li Chengqian cursed and swore, but when he saw his younger brother's evasive eyes, he took a deep breath.

"Alright, don't be shy. It's just picking up something. I'll go myself!"

After saying a few words to the people present, he picked up an umbrella and quickly walked out of the East Palace.

On the only way from the East Palace to the Ganlu Hall.

Sun Yi's expression changed instantly when he saw the little eunuch hiding on a wall in the distance, suddenly waving his hand. He quickly ran inside.

"He's here! His Highness the Crown Prince is here! Everyone, get moving!"

"Show off your charm..."

Li Shimin and his men, who were hiding behind a wall, standing on stools and peering out, instantly tensed up.

Upon hearing this, Li Yuan, who had also come to join the fun, felt somewhat nervous as he looked at the young women from the residences of various ministers in Chang'an, who were pretending to rehearse a dance in the pavilion by the pool.

"Second Prince, will this work? Why do I always feel that the Crown Prince might not even glance at them?"

Li Shimin said impatiently, "Shh, Father, they're coming... Sun Yi, have everyone ready. If anyone slips up, I'll chop off their head!"

......

"The people on this list have all arrived in Chang'an. You send a Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) and I will also mobilize two thousand of the Crown Prince's Six Detachments of Cavalry to escort these people to Taiyuan Prefecture. Now that the New Year is over, when we go there after the New Year, the Imperial University will have been built."