Chapter 23

"The Crown Prince has already failed; the reason he hasn't been abolished yet is just because the Emperor still remembers the father-son relationship."

"Now, why doesn't the Prince of Wei take this opportunity to slowly participate in state affairs?"

"Shut up!"

Li Tai was preparing to ask, but Su Xu shouted first:

"Special Promotion Xiao, do you want the Prince of Wei to completely lose the qualification to compete for the position of Crown Prince?"

Li Tai was shocked: "Why is it so serious? I am the Governor of Yongzhou, and I have always been handling the government affairs of Yongzhou. It is reasonable for me to handle them on his behalf since Big Brother is inconvenient."

"The Crown Prince is not just the Crown Prince, but also the Prince's own brother."

Su Xu was somewhat disappointed: "The Emperor was hurt by the Crown Prince; the Prince does not think about comforting the Emperor, does not think about advising the Crown Prince, but hurriedly wants to fight for power and profit. What will the Emperor think?"

"The most important thing to do now is to go to the Eastern Palace to advise the Crown Prince, and then go to the palace to explain for the Crown Prince, instead of kicking him while he is down."

"As a monarch, one should have a heart that can tolerate others, and one's vision must be long-term; only then can the Emperor rest assured to hand the world to the Prince."

"That's right! That's right! That is exactly the truth; I will go to the Eastern Palace now!"

Just as he reached the door, the Prince of Wei stopped suddenly, turned his head slowly, and his face was somewhat embarrassed:

"Uncle Su, why don't you go with me?"

"Hmm? This matter is not suitable for me to go!"

"It is suitable! Reasonably speaking, you are also Big Brother's second uncle; chatting about family matters is just right."

Su Xu had black lines all over his head: "I still have things to do! Zhangsun Wuji sent people to Qianzhou, and there has been no news coming back yet."

"Don't care about this little time; you just go with me."

"Fine!"

Seeing Su Xu agree, Li Tai breathed a sigh of relief:

"Special Promotion Xiao, you go do your business first; after Gaoyang finishes seeing Father, we will continue to discuss."

"I understand!"

Li Tai was really somewhat afraid of Li Chengqian recently, especially after seeing Fang Jun beaten so miserably, he didn't dare to go to the Eastern Palace alone anymore.

If it were someone else, it would be fine, but that was Fang Jun, the Lady of Liang's lifeline. The Lady of Liang was a ruthless person who dared to gouge out her eyes to show her heart and defy edicts.

Coming from the Fanyang Lu Clan, she really didn't need to be afraid of anyone. It was incredible that such a person even sent gifts to the Eastern Palace for her son.

Half an hour later, the two arrived at the Eastern Palace. This time Li Tai didn't shout and scream, but followed the eunuch to the Qingfeng Pavilion in a well-behaved manner.

Just as he arrived at the Qingfeng Pavilion and saw Li Chengqian's leisurely and contented appearance, Li Tai couldn't hold back and shouted:

"Big Brother, how could you contradict Father at the court meeting? Do you know how sad this makes Father?"

"You are actually still fishing here; it is simply unfilial!"

"Is your skin itchy again?"

Li Chengqian glanced faintly, then focused his gaze on the lake again:

"You are not writing books in the Literature Pavilion; did you come to the Eastern Palace just to tell me this?"

"What do you mean by 'this'? Father is still angry now; what if he gets sick from anger?"

"Second Uncle, did you teach Qingque this?"

Su Xu was calm: "The Prince of Wei is naturally benevolent and filial; it has nothing to do with me."

Li Chengqian put down the fishing rod, then turned to face the two:

"Sit cross-legged; do you want me to look up to talk to you?"

After the two sat cross-legged, Li Chengqian continued:

"Qingque, have you become too shameless recently? How much help did Big Brother give you, and you still treat Big Brother as a stepping stone?"

"You did something wrong, and you won't let me say it?"

"Sigh!"

Li Chengqian sighed and took a scroll of books from his sleeve:

"Have I given you too much face recently, letting you talk to me like this!"

"Sasha..."

Seeing the De Book, Li Tai moved his body quickly, his huge body hiding behind Su Xu, only poking out a head:

"I, I tell you, Uncle Su is also here; if you take action and hurt Uncle Su, Aunt Nanchang won't spare you, and Sister-in-law won't spare you either."

"..."

Su Xu had veins on his forehead; he thought Li Tai asked him to come to the Eastern Palace together to probe Li Chengqian, but he didn't expect it was to use him as a shield.

Li Chengqian looked at Su Xu, then put away the De Book:

"Look at your silly look; how could you think of coming to reprimand me?"

"Fine! I will have people spread the word in a while that I was ashamed and embarrassed by your reprimand. Hurry up and go see Father."

"Do you have such a good heart?"

Li Tai looked suspicious: "We are enemies; why have you been helping me recently?"

Li Chengqian spoke with yin and yang:

"Qingque, you are truly becoming more and more degenerate; Big Brother is already abolished, and you still treat me as an enemy."

"What? Do you want to kill Big Brother?"

"Don't think I don't know; you must be playing some conspiracy again. This time I learned to be smart; I will look for a temple in Chang'an City!"

"How do you know my goal isn't a temple in Chang'an City? After all, I only said everywhere in the Great Tang, but didn't specify which location!"

"Then I..."

Before the words were finished, Li Chengqian interrupted, his tone full of mockery:

"Have you ever thought of a possibility that what I just said was lying to you? If you really change to a temple outside Chang'an, you might fall into the trap?"

"You, you are too insidious!"

Su Xu couldn't stand it anymore and spoke in a deep voice:

"The Crown Prince doesn't care which temple it is; he only cares if Buddhism has participated."

"Taoism is also fine; I'm not a picky eater!"

"The Crown Prince is afraid that he doesn't put the Prince of Wei and the Prince of Jin in his heart; you just want to use them to achieve your own goals."

"Eh?"

A look of surprise appeared on Li Chengqian's face: "As expected of the Wugong Su family; there are no mediocre people."

"It's a pity, you can't retreat now; you can only be used by me."

"What if Minister Zhangsun also knows the Crown Prince's plan?"

"Human hearts are hard to measure; does Uncle Su dare to gamble on human nature? If they dared to gamble, the aristocratic families in the world wouldn't bet on both sides, nor would they intermarry."

Speaking of this, Li Chengqian's expression froze: "Or do you think that if you say it, someone will believe it?"

"Everyone knows I'm already abolished, just occupying the name of Crown Prince."

"Ask Qingque if he also feels in his heart that I can never ascend the throne again."

"It was already!"

Li Tai was serious: "Unless you rebel, you simply cannot ascend the throne."

"All the civil and military officials in the court do not support you, and Father does not support you; what can you rely on to sit on the throne?"

"Look!"

Li Chengqian pointed at Li Tai and smiled: "Taking a step back, even if Qingque and Zhinu join forces to deal with me, how do they want to deal with me?"

"Abolish my position as Crown Prince? How much help do you think the name of Crown Prince is to me?"

"You only have one way, and that is to kill me, which is no different from cutting off your own path to the throne."

"As long as I die, whether you did it or not, you won't be able to ascend the throne."

"The highest good is like water; water benefits all things and does not contend; it dwells in the places that everyone dislikes, so it is close to the Dao."

"How can you ascend the throne by doing this?"

"Why do you think I would tell you?"

Li Chengqian's eyes froze: "You only have one path to walk now, and that is to defeat Zhinu and then force me out."

At this point, Li Chengqian looked at Li Tai:

"Qingque, Big Brother never talks nonsense; if you want to ascend to the position of Crown Prince, there is a necessary condition; otherwise, even if you defeat Zhinu, you won't be able to ascend."

"What did you say? You have been hitting me these few times."

Just at this time, Crown Princess Su Xi led a young man and walked slowly toward the Qingfeng Pavilion:

"Second Uncle is here? Why didn't you say so in advance? I would have gone to welcome you!"

"Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Princess!"

After everyone bowed to each other, Li Chengqian spoke faintly:

"Qingque, you should go see Father!"

"Are you chasing me away?"

Li Tai pointed at the young man behind Su Xi and asked loudly:

"Who is this? Why haven't I seen him before?"