Chapter 77: What Temptation

Li Shimin was stunned. What kind of temptation could make even Hou Junji feel such envy?

"What is this reward? Could it be something I am unable to do?"

"A separate page in the Zushu!"

Li Shimin's pupils constricted sharply, and a look of disbelief appeared on his face:

"What do you mean? What is meant by a separate page in the Zushu? Where would those soldiers even get a Zushu?"

"The Crown Prince will send people to create Zushu for them, and those with great merit will even have Ministry of Rites officials sent to specifically teach them clan rituals.

The Crown Prince used the temptation of a separate page in the history books to entice me; I truly did not know how to refuse."

"Am I unable to do it? Can he just write whatever he wants in the history books?"

Hou Junji stammered, "It is the same for those who rebel against the Crown Prince; a separate page in the history books will let them stink for ten thousand years.

Merits will be glossed over in a single stroke, while faults will be written about in great detail; that is not considered tampering with history."

Having said this, Hou Junji paused, glanced at Li Shimin's less-than-pleasant expression, and spoke slowly:

"This is something the Emperor truly cannot do. If the Emperor were to do it, then the soldiers who originally followed the Emperor to conquer the world would also have to be included, and the consumption of manpower and resources would be too great.

If the Crown Prince does it, it is different; after all, the Crown Prince is only the Crown Prince, not yet the Emperor!"

Li Shimin stared at Hou Junji with a blank expression: "Is this the reason you wanted to kill me?"

Hou Junji knelt on the ground, pressed his two fingers together, and pointed to the sky to swear:

"The Crown Prince and I have only been acting for self-preservation from beginning to end. If there is even the slightest intention to harm the Emperor, may the Hou family be field slaves for generations to come!"

"Get up! There is no need for such severity! If I truly didn't trust you, I wouldn't have brought you on the eastern expedition."

Li Shimin spoke calmly: "Why does the Crown Prince have the soldiers study? Is spying on the national conditions of other countries for the sake of raising an army to destroy them in the future?"

"He didn't say why he wanted them to study! However, the intelligence gathered will all be sent to the Prince of Jin in the future. As for why, he didn't tell me either."

"Zhinu?"

Li Shimin fell into deep thought: 'It seems it is as I thought, using one civil and one military official to protect Qingque and Zhinu.

If there is a foolish emperor above and sycophantic officials below, this will only accelerate the deaths of Qingque and Zhinu.

If Gaoming ascends the throne, with Fang Xuanling, Zhangsun Wuji, and others to assist, Qingque and Zhinu will be safe.

I was still too impatient. Gaoming is not contacting Hou Junji now; he must already know that I have arranged spies around Hou Junji.

Now, whatever he does, probably only Yuwen Ding and Wang Qi know, and Wang Qi's family is already under his control. He is truly cautious.

Enough! Everything will be discussed after returning from the eastern expedition.'

Li Chengqian had no need to contact Hou Junji at all right now, nor did he want to contact him during the eastern expedition.

Even for Li Daozong, a key figure in this plan, Li Chengqian did not dare to contact him casually. A battlefield is a battlefield; any small matter can cause huge consequences.

"I practice non-action, and the people transform themselves; I love stillness, and the people rectify themselves; I do nothing, and the people become prosperous; I have no desires, and the people become simple.

It is written so well. I haven't done anything, yet Qingque is already in a fluster!"

"Sigh! When others look at Laozi, they see a hermit; why does it turn into a conspirator when it comes to me?

Truly, a dirty heart sees everything as dirty!"

Wang Qi, standing to the side, had the corner of his mouth twitch slightly. Even though he had heard Li Chengqian curse himself many times, he still couldn't help but want to complain:

'If this continues, will I be secretly executed for knowing too much?'

Thinking of this, Wang Qi turned his head away and inadvertently caught a glimpse of a chubby figure.

"Crown Prince, the Prince of Wei is here!"

"Let him come then!"

Before long, Li Tai sat down in front of Li Chengqian and angrily rolled up the Daoist book in front of him, not wanting Li Chengqian to continue reading.

"Big Brother, aren't you being a bit excessive?"

"What did I do?"

Li Chengqian was truly a bit confused. He hadn't done anything recently, let alone taken action against Li Tai:

"Qingque, what happened?"

Now it was Li Tai's turn to be baffled: "It really wasn't you? That's not right! If it wasn't you, who else could be so shameless?"

"What exactly happened?"

"In the fifteenth year of Zhenguan, Yu Zhining resumed his post after the mourning period, but now someone is making an issue of it and spreading it among the officials, saying that if the Censor cannot even teach the Crown Prince, how can he educate the people of Anzhou?"

Li Chengqian spread the book open again: "This is the work of a gentleman; it is not my style.

My style is to use power to pressure others and go with the flow, or to start from small things, just as Laozi said: the great affairs of the world must be started from the minute.

You don't need to guess who it is; besides our uncle, there is no one else. Everyone wants the credit.

Just wait! Once Yu Zhining and Su Guzhang are eliminated, it will be my father-in-law's turn."

Li Tai nodded in agreement: "Big Brother, let's cooperate and defeat Zhinu first.

If he invites Chu Liang, the Scholar, out, neither you nor I will have any chance of winning."

"It would be a miracle if he could invite him out! And we don't need the Scholar; just having Chu Suiliang come out to compete would be enough to handle.

Chu Suiliang's reputation is too great, especially after Gaoyang became pregnant; if he goes to Anzhou to educate, it would be the will of the people."

"Heh!"

Li Tai sneered: "Don't think I don't know that no matter who ends up going to Anzhou, the Third Brother will find trouble for them.

Big Brother, what do you think would happen if the Third Brother were moved to another place? Would you still be reading so leisurely?"

"Sigh!"

Li Chengqian pointed to a passage in the book: "Qingque, look at what is written here."

"Practice non-action, do nothing... This is what Laozi said, talking about how it looks like nothing was done, but in fact, everything was done.

Just like flowers, plants, and trees; it looks like heaven and earth did nothing, but the growth of flowers and plants relies on the nourishment of heaven and earth."

"Since you know everything, tell me, is there a possibility that you didn't sense a thing about what Big Brother was doing?"

"Before I said it, did you know my father-in-law would be transferred to Chang'an? After the rumors about the Prince of Bohai broke out, did you think it was my doing?"

"You were able to think of Anzhou, but is there a possibility that I specifically had the Crown Princess go find Yang Fei just to mislead you today?"

"Impossible!"

Li Tai glared fiercely: "How could you possibly think so far ahead? How did you know I would think of Third Brother?"

"These words just now are the ones misleading me; I won't fall for it."

"Last time I told Zhinu about three types of 'non-action', let me tell you about another type of 'non-action'."

Li Chengqian spoke softly: "Another interpretation of 'non-action' is to act in accordance with the trend; when the situation changes, do not try to maintain its original appearance, but follow the changes of things and act accordingly."

"Just like spring departing and autumn arriving; since spring is destined to leave, one must prepare for winter."

"Since the position of education in Anzhou can no longer be obtained, why not control Chang'an? If that really doesn't work, one can also win over officials from the Ministry of Rites."

"No matter who is in charge of the public announcement, they will need people to do the work."

Li Tai stepped back quickly, his face full of nervousness:

"You're giving me a gift again, you're giving me a gift! Speak! What kind of conspiracy do you have?"

"I'm telling you, I won't fall for it this time; I don't want any gifts."

"Just you wait, this public announcement will definitely be mine; even if it's a useless burden, I will still get my hands on it."

After speaking, Li Tai turned and left; he really dared not stay in the Eastern Palace any longer, fearing he might be unable to resist accepting this great gift again.

'A Crown Prince is actually acting as a staff advisor for me? What on earth has happened to this world? What has happened?'

Watching Li Tai's departing back, Li Chengqian looked full of regret; he truly hoped Li Tai would send people to the Ministry of Rites so he wouldn't have to screen the officials himself.

He had no one to use and could only borrow Li Tai's people, but unfortunately, Li Tai had learned to be smart and didn't want the gift at all.

Not long after Li Tai left, Yuwen Ding arrived at Qingfeng Pavilion:

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, the envoys from Tibet have arrived, and the Court of State Ceremonial is currently receiving them."