Chapter 24

Li Chengqian looked at Su Xi, his gaze full of inquiry. Su Xi had an ambiguous smile on her lips, as if saying, "Are you sure?"

Li Chengqian nodded slightly: "Introduce him; I watched Qingque grow up, and there is nothing he can't know."

Su Xi nodded: "Yuwen Ding; his ancestor was the Duke of Jin, Yuwen Hu. Second Uncle should know the relationship between Yuwen Hu's lineage and the Su family."

"Hmm? Yuwen Hu still has descendants left? Didn't Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou kill all his sons?"

Su Xu shook his head: "Grandmother once used the power of the Su family to protect one; these years, no great talent has appeared, so he has been forgotten."

"So it's the descendant of an old friend. Qingque, let him go to the Literature Pavilion to help you?"

"Get lost!"

Li Tai glared at Li Chengqian: "You shameless villain, don't try to plot against me."

Li Chengqian pulled out the De Book and, before he could react, slammed it directly on Li Tai's head.

"Ah! You hit me again!"

"Hitting you is for your own good; you'll thank me later!"

"You wait! I'm going to tell Father!"

Li Tai pointed at Li Chengqian, slowly retreated out of the Qingfeng Pavilion, and turned to run as soon as he exited.

"Li Chengqian, you are a shameless villain; I'm not afraid of you; one day I will also take the De Book and beat you."

Since Li Tai had left, Su Xu didn't want to stay in the Eastern Palace either. After bowing to Li Chengqian and Su Xi, he chased after Li Tai.

Looking at Su Xu's departing back, Li Chengqian waved his hand at Wang Qi:

"Except for the Crown Princess and Yuwen Ding, everyone withdraw; no one is allowed to approach within twenty steps."

"Yes!"

After everyone withdrew, Li Chengqian signaled for the two to sit down:

"Yuwen Ding, have you read books? Which books have you read?"

"I haven't read much; I have dabbled in 'Sun Tzu's Art of War', 'Classic of Changes', 'Guanzi', etc."

"What is Qian?"

"Qian is man, spirit. Only with the person can the position be determined; only when the spirit is clear can the quality be unified. Quality is the shell!"

"The meaning of treading on frost?"

"It means achieving greatness through small things; small evils eventually become great evils, and small goods eventually become great goods. A gentleman should distinguish carefully in time to avoid regret."

"A nine-story tower starts from a pile of earth; that is the meaning of treading on frost."

Li Chengqian nodded with satisfaction: "Not bad. If you can answer the next question, you can take office?"

"Please speak, Your Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Killing one person to save a hundred, or killing a hundred to save one; how do you choose?"

"May I ask the consequences of both?"

"Fine! You passed the test!"

Li Chengqian stood up slowly, staring down at Yuwen Ding:

"From today on, you are the Thousand Ox Guard of the Eastern Palace Left Inner Guard; you will only act according to my orders."

"Thank you, Your Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Starting tomorrow, go understand the situation of the 110 wards of Chang'an yourself; in a month, I want to know the general situation of each ward; this is the assessment."

"Your subordinate will definitely not let Your Highness the Crown Prince down!"

"Go find Wang Qi; he will arrange it!"

"Yes!"

Brocade Guard! Li Chengqian wanted to establish a Brocade Guard; he needed to know the enemy's intelligence at any time.

He never dared to underestimate the ancients. At this time, he hadn't taken action against the aristocratic families, so they hadn't discovered anything.

As Li Chengqian made more and more moves, even the slightest movement could still be discovered by them.

Once discovered, what awaited him would be endless attacks; he couldn't block those black hands in the dark.

For this reason, he didn't hesitate to learn from the Hongwu Great Emperor and use the Brocade Guard to monitor the world.

"My Lord, why did you ask the last question, and why didn't you let Yuwen Ding answer?"

Li Chengqian didn't answer but asked: "If it were you, how would you answer?"

"You didn't make it clear who it was, nor did you make it clear what the situation was."

"That is the answer!"

Li Chengqian explained softly: "What Yuwen Ding does can only care about the result; it cannot care about who it is."

"To achieve the goal, he will not stop; I need this kind of person."

"So much happened at the early court; do I still need to go find Yang Fei?"

Li Chengqian shook his head slightly: "No need; the goal has been achieved. You write a letter to your father-in-law, telling him to be cautious recently; someone is probing the intelligence of the Wugong Su family."

"Also, people from the Du family will go to Taizhou; ask your father-in-law to try to help cover it up. If he can help, he should; if he can't, it doesn't matter; it won't have much impact."

"Anything else? I'll write it all at once."

"No more! Next is Qingque's; after Qingque takes action, maybe I'll have to remind Zhinu."

Li Chengqian sighed: "I am a perfectly good Crown Prince, now turned into their military advisor; truly a bitter life."

Su Xi rolled her eyes: "You should pray that they won't join forces to beat you in the future; with what you've done, even I can't help but want to beat you."

"Your husband is a gentleman; is there anyone in the world with better moral conduct than me?"

"Even Jia Xu can't compare to you!"

"What about adding Cheng Yu?"

"Not enough!"

"You think too highly of me!"

While the two were bickering, Li Tai also met Li Shimin.

"Father, Father, are you okay!"

Li Shimin's eyes were full of suspicion: "What could be wrong with me? Is there anyone in this world who can make something wrong with me?"

"It's good that you're okay! It's good that you're okay!"

Li Tai patted his chest gently: "I heard about the early court and was afraid Father would get sick from anger."

"Father, rest assured; I just went to teach Big Brother a lesson, and Big Brother explained that he didn't contradict Father on purpose."

"Big Brother has been filial since he was a child, but he is the Crown Prince, and many times he cannot be like Zhinu and me; Father must not take it to heart."

"Hahaha!"

Li Shimin laughed: "With these words from you, Father is happy; I knew the three of you brothers were all benevolent and filial."

"Filial piety and brotherly love are the foundation of benevolence, and also the foundation of being a person; I have always kept it in mind."

"Eh?"

Li Shimin suddenly discovered the redness and swelling on Li Tai's head and couldn't help but ask suspiciously:

"Did your Big Brother hit this?"

"Yes! Big Brother saw me reprimanding him and hit me for being disrespectful."

"It's okay; this time I didn't take it to heart, but for the last time, I must find an opportunity to hit him back."

"Suit yourself! In the future, bring more guards when you go to the Eastern Palace."

Li Shimin smiled and said: "I am collecting grain and grass recently; if you have time, go to the Ministry of Revenue and see if there is anything you can help with."

A look of entanglement appeared on Li Tai's face: "Father, I want to go, but I'm afraid I won't do it well."

"What are you afraid of! If you don't know, go learn; no one is born knowing everything. If you encounter something, ask more."

"Fine! I will go to the Ministry of Revenue to see tomorrow."

After the words fell, Li Tai approached Li Shimin and asked in a low voice:

"Father, Big Brother has become so scary recently; I always feel panicked."

"What did he say?"

"He said 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."

"He is now dwelling in the places that everyone dislikes; he is invincible. Most importantly, he seems to be arranging a huge chess game, and I am also one of the chess pieces."

"Are you confessing to Father? You also want to be Crown Prince?"

Li Tai touched his head: "Father, you know, I never hide anything from you."

"I do want to be Crown Prince; if my ability is really not as good as Big Brother and Zhinu, I won't have any complaints."

"It's hard for you to be so honest; for the sake of your Big Brother hitting you again, I'll give you a reminder."

"Not only you, but Zhinu and I are all chess pieces of your Big Brother; the difference is that I know what he wants to do."

"One thing you can rest assured about is that your Big Brother won't harm you; his magnanimity is not smaller than mine."

Li Tai curled his lip: "If his magnanimity were great, he wouldn't hit me every day."

"If he didn't hit you, do you think I would remind you? Would I let you go to the Ministry of Revenue?"

"Father sees you being beaten again and feels sorry for you!"