gnovel Chapter 11 Li Chengqian: The First Mission
Chapter 11 Li Chengqian: The First Mission
Li Chengqian originally thought that he could relax a bit after the coming-of-age ceremony.
However, the reality was quite the opposite. In order to hone his ability to handle government affairs, Li Shimin sent him a large number of memorials to process.
These are often minor, harmless memorials.
Li Chengqian would start reading from morning till late at night, but he still couldn't finish.
This made him realize that being a crown prince was not easy. If he were to become emperor one day, wouldn't he have to read even more memorials?
Originally, the original owner thought that the crown prince was the heir apparent of the country, with money and beautiful women at his disposal, so he must be living a carefree and happy life. He never expected that it would be so tiring and worrying.
It was the second watch of the night.
The Eastern Palace.
Li Chengqian is reading the memorials.
At this moment, the simulator screen displayed: "[Chengxin has arrived at the door. Shall we see him or not?]"
Hmm? Everything's settled?
Li Chengqian hesitated for a moment: "I'll see you!"
A moment later, Chengxin walked in from outside the door, bowed, and said, "Greetings, Your Highness!"
Li Chengqian sized up Chengxin and asked, "What brings you here to see me?"
"Your Highness has successfully completed your coming-of-age ceremony, and I extend my congratulations."
"That's just a formality, there's nothing to congratulate."
"During this period, I trained ten Turkic warriors, and they are now ready to be deployed at any time."
Upon hearing this, Li Chengqian nodded.
In the original owner's memory, there was the Embroidered Uniform Guard in the Ming Dynasty, the Flying Guillotine in the Qing Dynasty, and the Military Intelligence Bureau in the Republic of China. These organizations did a lot of things for their masters, including things that were respectable and things that were not, things that could be seen in public and things that could not be seen in public.
If a person wants to accomplish great things, he must have his own team.
With this team in place, Li Chengqian felt much more at ease.
"You must train each and every one of them to be a master among masters."
Whatever you do, you must do it cleanly and efficiently.
"Yes! May I ask what the first task His Highness gave us was?"
Li Chengqian put down the memorial in his hand and pondered for a moment: "Father Emperor ordered Qingque to compile the 'Kuodi Zhi' (Records of the Land)."
He established a literary museum, so send someone there to find out what they're thinking and doing.
"Understood."
Literature Museum.
Compiling the "Kuodi Zhi" was indeed a massive undertaking, as the book covered an immense amount of information. It listed 358 prefectures and then, organized by prefecture, described the people, geography, politics, economy, culture, mountains and rivers, place names, and major historical events of each county, encompassing a wide range of topics and requiring extensive research.
Li Tai, with his large belly supported by his hands, walked back and forth in the literature museum and said to everyone, "When you are looking up information, you must be careful and cautious, and make sure you don't make any mistakes."
We must complete this book on time and with high quality.
This book can be said to be directly related to the future of me and everyone else.
My father has no tolerance for injustice.
If Father Emperor is satisfied with this in the future, and I receive a reward or promotion, you will all benefit from it. Do you all understand?
"We understand," the group replied.
Xiao Deyan put down the information he had been looking up: "Your Majesty is exceptionally intelligent and knowledgeable, and your calligraphy is superb. Only the Prince of Yue could undertake such a task as compiling the 'Kuodi Zhi'. If the Crown Prince were to do this, I doubt he would be able to compile the book."
Upon hearing this, Li Tai's face lit up with smugness.
Xiao Deyan continued, "With the compilation of the 'Kuodi Zhi' this time, Your Majesty's status in the court will be greatly enhanced."
From a certain perspective, they have already surpassed the Crown Prince.
"Your Majesty oversees twenty-two prefectures, while Li Ke only oversees eight. This clearly shows the Emperor's great favor and high regard for Your Majesty. In my opinion, he has the intention of replacing the Crown Prince."
Gu Yin stroked his beard: "Since ancient times, emperors have been required to have the appearance of emperors."
Back then, Qin Shi Huang, Ying Zheng, was tall and imposing, with long eyes and an aura of authority;
Emperor Gaozu of Han had a prominent nose and a dragon-like face, and his appearance was quite remarkable. It was precisely because of this that he was able to gain the appreciation of Duke Lü when he was poor, and Duke Lü married his daughter Lü Zhi to him.
Emperor Wu of Han was also dignified and imposing;
The two emperors of the Sui Dynasty were also born with extraordinary appearances and dignified features;
The current emperor of the Tang Dynasty is even more wise and powerful.
Now, let's look at the Crown Prince again. He has a leg disability. How can someone like that be the emperor of the Tang Dynasty?
How can he compare to the King?
Putting everything else aside, based solely on this point, I believe Your Majesty is intentionally grooming the Prince to one day replace Li Chengqian as Crown Prince.
Li Tai waved his hand, interrupting him: "Don't speak carelessly, be careful, walls have ears."
"Your Majesty need not be so nervous, we are all on the same side here."
Li Tai sighed: "In terms of calligraphy and talent, I believe I am no less than the Crown Prince."
"However, he is a year older than me, and he is the eldest son of the legitimate wife, while I am the second son. This status cannot be changed at any time."
"Your Majesty need not worry too much. Do you still remember Yang Yong, the deposed crown prince of the previous dynasty?"
He was also the eldest son of the legitimate wife, and he was not physically disabled.
However, he lived a life of extravagance and took many concubines into the Eastern Palace.
This angered Empress Dugu.
Empress Dugu was extremely jealous. She not only opposed Emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian, taking concubines, but also opposed her sons taking concubines.
However, Yang Yong did as he pleased and ignored all of that.
Later, this led to the death of Yang Yong's crown princess, Lady Yuan, who was depressed. This greatly angered Empress Dugu, and ultimately, Emperor Wen of Sui deposed Yang Yong from his position as crown prince.
Let's take a look at the current crown prince. I heard that he has an ambiguous relationship with a musician named Chengxin.
That's it, neither male nor female, a man who can actually dance.
I heard that his dancing is more alluring than a woman's, and he has even captivated the Crown Prince.
You say the Crown Prince's behavior is so absurd, isn't it utterly ridiculous?
Li Tai's eyes lit up after hearing this.
He paced back and forth, rubbing his hands together incessantly: "So, does this mean I still have a chance?"
"Your Majesty has more than just a chance; in my opinion, it's a sure thing. If the Crown Prince continues down this absurd path, he will surely follow in Yang Yong's footsteps."
"If that day ever comes, and I become the crown prince and eventually the emperor, you will all be meritorious officials, and I will never treat you unfairly."
Making empty promises is a common tactic of Li Tai.
Gu Yin continued, "If we want to bring down the Crown Prince, we must find his weaknesses."
For example, his illicit affairs with Chengxin and palace maids, or some other secret he harbors.
Li Tai nodded, agreeing with his point: "However, so far, no conclusive evidence has been found!"
How can the crown prince be brought down without evidence?
Gu Yin put his hands behind his back, stared with his triangular eyes and thought for a while: "Your Majesty, if there is no evidence, we can create evidence."
Li Tai asked, puzzled, "What do you mean by that?"
Gu Yin smiled and said, "Do you really think that Crown Prince Liu Ju actually buried a wooden effigy in his palace and practiced witchcraft?"
The Witchcraft Rebellion was a major historical event in the later years of Emperor Wu of Han, and Li Tai was naturally well aware of it.
The gist of the story is that Liu Ju and Jiang Chong had a strained relationship, and Jiang Chong was worried that Liu Ju would punish him if he became emperor in the future.
So he conspired with Han Shuo to frame Liu Ju.
They planted wooden figures in Liu Ju's palace beforehand, then sent people to search for them and falsely accused the crown prince to Emperor Wu of Han.
Unable to clear his name, the crown prince was forced to raise an army in rebellion.
Emperor Wu of Han believed slanderous words and thought that Liu Ju wanted to rebel, so he sent troops to suppress him.
Ultimately, this led to fathers and sons killing each other, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of people.
After his defeat, Liu Ju, unable to bear being captured and humiliated, committed suicide.
Li Tai, having been prompted by Gu Yin's words, frowned deeply: "So, what do you mean?"
"I heard that the Crown Prince wants to build a grape trellis in the back garden. Listen to this, is this something a Crown Prince should do?"
Now that he has allowed you to help, this is a perfect opportunity. You can carry a wooden figure with you and bury it in the East Palace when they are not paying attention.
Then, send someone to report it, and search the Eastern Palace. As long as they find this wooden figure, I think Li Chengqian will have no way to defend himself then.
After hearing this, everyone thought it was a brilliant plan.
However, Li Tai still had some concerns, saying, "Is it appropriate for me to do this personally? What if it's discovered that I was the one who did it? Wouldn't that be troublesome?"
"Your Majesty may take a guard with you and take the opportunity to bury the wooden figure in the East Palace."
Xiao Deyan said, "I think this plan is feasible. It's hard to say for sure about witchcraft. If you say it exists, it exists; if you say it doesn't, it doesn't."
If His Majesty were to find out that the Crown Prince had planted a wooden figurine in the Eastern Palace to curse him, even if he weren't deposed as Crown Prince, it would still be enough to make things difficult for him.
Li Tai's face lit up with excitement, thinking to himself that three cobblers are indeed equal to one Zhuge Liang.
Why couldn't I have come up with such a good plan?
Just then, Li Tai suddenly saw a figure flash outside the window, and he was startled: "Who's outside?"
He opened the door and looked outside.
There were several pieces of clothing hanging under the eaves outside, fluttering in the wind, and a large tabby cat on the eaves. Where was anyone?
The others followed and came out. Gu Yin said, "Your Majesty, are you seeing things?"
It's just a big tabby cat.
Li Tai scratched his head: "I think I saw a figure, or maybe I was just seeing things?"
After confirming that no one was there, they returned to the museum.
In fact, Li Tai had good eyesight; he wasn't mistaken. There was indeed someone outside the window who had overheard every word they were saying.
This man was Feng Jishe, one of the ten warriors recruited by Chengxin. He was given this name because he was so fast that he could come and go like the wind!
Feng Jishe truthfully reported what he had found out to Chengxin.
So, Chengxin went to see Li Chengqian.
Although Li Chengqian had vaguely sensed that Qingque harbored ambitions for the position of Crown Prince, it was only a guess before, but now the evidence was conclusive. He never expected Qingque to be so ruthless as to want to kill him.
Is the Xuanwu Gate Incident about to repeat itself?
Li Chengqian's heart felt like it was being pierced by needles.
He slumped into his ever-changing wheelchair, heartbroken.
As a time traveler, he had no intention of becoming emperor; he only wanted to live a good life. He never expected that Qingque would cause him such heartache.
"Your Highness, what is the next step?"
"Why don't we send our archer Mujishe to shoot Li Tai!" Chengxin said indignantly.
"No, no matter what, Li Tai is my brother. Besides, I promised the Empress Dowager that he may be unrighteous, but I will not be unjust."
"But, Your Highness, if their plot succeeds, the consequences will be unimaginable."
Li Chengqian pondered for a moment: "Don't make this public. Keep a close eye on Qingque's every move. If you find out any new information, report to me immediately. As for how to deal with it, I will consider it carefully."
"Yes!" Chengxin paused for a moment, "So, shall we continue with building the grape trellis?"
"Why don't we continue?"
How could I give up halfway through something I've already started? Once the grapes are ripe, everyone will have something to eat. Isn't it better to be self-reliant like this?
"Should we still have Li Tailai build the grape trellis?"
"Why not let him come? We're short-handed here."
"But if he comes, he will surely have ill intentions."
"It's alright, let him come."
I'd like to see what tricks he has up his sleeve.
"promise!"
The next morning, just after Li Chengqian finished breakfast, he saw a large group of people arriving at the gate of the Eastern Palace, including Su Wan, Du Zhenglun, Li Tai, Li Zhi, Princess Chang Le Li Lizhi, Princess Chengyang, and others.
When Li Chengqian saw them, he wondered if they were here to help him build a grape trellis.
Why does it look like they're here to take advantage of the situation?
Little Li Zhi waved his fist: "Brother, I want to eat grapes."
Li Zhi thought to himself, "This guy is something else. We haven't even started setting up the table yet, and he's already clamoring to eat."
He walked up to Li Zhi, bent down, and picked him up: "Don't worry, you'll get your share of grapes, it's not time yet."
"No, Your Majesty, I want to eat now."
"I have plenty of delicious food here. How about I get you some other fruit?"
"Okay, then, but I want two."
It turns out that this guy, despite his young age, is quite intelligent.
"Okay, we'll do it your way."
When Su Wan saw Li Chengqian again, her face flushed instantly, because she thought of the time when Li Chengqian was drunk, and her heart couldn't help but flutter.
Li Chengqian looked at her and laughed, "Building a grape trellis is hard work, what brings you here?"
"I'm physically strong, what, do you underestimate women?"
"Alright then, don't blame me if you get blisters on your hands and feet."
Du Zhenglun's buttocks are probably almost healed.
Li Chengqian laughed and said, "I was just joking with you last time. You are the Crown Prince's Left Attendant, how could I let you do such rough work?"
Du Zhenglun hurriedly waved his hand: "Your Highness is mistaken! It is my honor to serve Your Highness, how could I miss such a good opportunity?"
Besides, didn't the Crown Prince say that he would give me two bunches to try after the grapes ripen?