Chapter 65: Chengqian Falls from His Horse

Chapter 65: Li Chengqian Falls from His Horse

Under Li Shimin's autocratic decision, even those with objections had to forcibly suppress their dissenting views.

In other words: I have an opinion, but I do not agree with it.

The public trial was held in Chang'an as scheduled. Amidst public outrage, everyone received the punishment they deserved.

Wu Sansi had a rather miserable time. The blood of the Tang subjects in this era had not yet grown cold, and they almost universally sympathized with loyal ministers like Wang Tongjiao and Zhang Jianzhi. For the primary culprit behind their persecution, the people of Chang'an prepared plenty of slops, feeding it to him for over ten days before finally sending him on his way.

Not bad, at least he got to be a well-fed ghost before dying.

As for Empress Wei and Princess Anle, the commoners still showed a little consideration for imperial dignity and no one advocated for their execution. Yet this tiny shred of imperial dignity was entirely on account of Li Shimin—after all, the imperial family of the Great Tang in this era had little dignity left to speak of.

However, the two of them had to wake up at the Hour of Yin every day to sweep the Zhuque Gate. For the two women who had lived lives of pampered luxury, this was far less relieving than a swift execution.

At the joint request of Li Dan and Princess Taiping, Li Shimin agreed to their suggestion to change the era name from Shenlong to Jinglong.

This coincidently aligned with history; in the original timeline, after Li Chongjun's military defeat and death, Li Xian changed the era name from Shenlong to Jinglong.

Before leaving, Li Zhi, upon learning of Princess Taiping's ordeal, specially advised her to divorce Wu Youji. However, Princess Taiping merely expressed that Wu Youji was also a pitiful man and did not follow Li Zhi's advice.

Indeed, he was quite pitiful. Back then, Wu Zetian had specifically issued an imperial decree to have Wu Youji's wife killed so that he could marry the widowed Princess Taiping. Come to think of it, Princess Taiping still felt a little sorry for him.

Thinking about it made Wu Zetian's maneuvers seem baffling: killing her youngest daughter's husband, and then killing her nephew's wife, just to arrange a marriage...

One could only comment that such operations could absolutely never be conceived unless one stayed with Saint Elizabeth and Li Huowang for three consecutive years.

After everything was settled, the group prepared to leave the first year of Jinglong and return to their respective eras.

In order to educate Li Chongjun, Li Shimin still took him along back to the eleventh year of Zhenguan, intending to first have Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling tutor him, and only after he had mastered the basics would he personally teach him how to handle state affairs.

Actually, Li Shimin's parenting was not bad. Ignoring his problem of failing to treat all his children equally, at least Li Chengqian was still an excellent crown prince while Empress Changsun was alive, perfectly completing several assignments of acting as regent.

This could be considered one of Erfeng's few flaws; after all, where could a truly perfect person exist?

Returning to Lizheng Palace, Li Shimin, after settling Li Chongjun in, could not help but let out a long sigh of relief. He collapsed onto the dragon throne and remained in a daze for a long time before looking at Li Qing and sighing, "The commoners all say that children and grandchildren have their own fortunes, so do not toil like a horse or ox for them. Yet these unworthy descendants of mine... Ah, they truly exhaust me to death."

His heart was genuinely tired. Having only experienced three generations of emperors, Li Shimin was already starting to doubt the meaning of life.

Our Great Tang has a total of twenty emperors. Excluding Wude, Zhenguan, and the bygone Yonghui, Saisheng, and Shenlong, there are still fifteen emperors left. If everyone is like this, I will sooner or later work myself to death on the road.

Just looking at this bunch of unworthy descendants is going to shorten my life by at least ten years!

"Could it be that I have no capable descendants at all?"

Li Shimin's eyes grew moist.

"Oh, actually there are," Li Qing thought for a moment and said with a smile, "Remember Li Longji whom I mentioned to you earlier? He's the son of Prince Xiang, Li Dan. The prosperous Tang era spoken of by future generations is the Kaiyuan period under his reign."

"Really?" Li Shimin instantly shook off his drowsiness. He struggled to sit up, though he remained half-doubtful.

"Why would I trick you?" Li Qing could not help laughing. How did Brother Li also start learning from Old Zhu and developing paranoia?

He added, "The Song dynasty prime minister Wang Anshi once wrote a poem, roughly going like... 'Wishing to be a frivolous youth of the Five Tombs, born during the Zhenguan and Kaiyuan eras. Spending a lifetime fighting roosters and chasing dogs, knowing nothing of the world's peace or peril.'"

"Think about it, an era name like Kaiyuan can even be mentioned in the same breath as your Zhenguan, so how could it be wrong? Besides, Brother Li, you are my dearest and closest blood-sworn brother, how could I possibly lie to you?"

What he said wasn't entirely wrong either; Li Longji was indeed a fine emperor during the Kaiyuan era. As for what happened later... Brother Li's mental state was already so explosive right now, it was better to report the good news and withhold the bad. What if he accidentally pissed Old Li off to the point of giving up? What would happen to his emotional value points?

"Then what are we waiting for? Hurry up and take me to see it, virtuous brother, let me experience the splendor of the prosperous Tang!" Li Shimin rubbed his hands, saying eagerly.

Li Qing slumped in a "Ge You slouch" aside, looked at the ceiling with an expression of utter exhaustion, and said, "You at least have to let me rest for a couple of days, Brother Li? Even a peasant family's donkey isn't worked like this..."

If you urge me again, I'll drag you straight to the fifteenth year of Tianbao! he thought viciously in his heart.

"Fine, fine, fine, let's rest, we'll rest for a few more days," Li Shimin coaxed hastily when he saw Li Qing's fatigued appearance. "Take as long as you want to rest, virtuous brother."

Li Qing did a quick mental calculation in his heart and silently offered a prayer of condolence for Li Shimin once more.

There was truly plenty of work ahead. The emperors before were still manageable, but what should be done when Huang Chao and Zhu Wen started their rebellions? Could it be that he should install a Dynasty Warriors mod for Li Shimin and throw him in to hack and slash?

However, the system didn't have that function either... Thinking of this, he also felt a bit troubled, because that wasn't just Li Shimin's private affair; it was also tied to how well his own future days would go.

Before they had chatted much longer, Wang Dude appeared off to the side, looking as though he had something to say but hesitated.

Seeing Wang Dude's expression, Li Shimin frowned and said, "Wang Dude, if you have something to say, spit it out."

"Yes..." Wang Dude raised his head to glance at Li Shimin, then said cautiously, "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince... the Crown Prince..."

"What happened to Gaoming?" Li Shimin's heart suddenly leaped into his throat. Could something have happened to Chengqian?

"The Crown Prince fell from his horse just now, and his leg is broken..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Li Shimin sprang to his feet.

"What?!"

His first reaction was sheer disbelief. Li Chengqian was the son he held the highest expectations for, yet such an accident had happened, and his leg was even broken. What would happen if it left behind a chronic ailment in the future?

"Brother Li, stay calm," Li Qing hurriedly spoke up to comfort him.

Only then did Li Shimin exhale a breath: "I was flustered and lost my head. Isn't my virtuous brother still here? With my virtuous brother's immortal methods, there's no need to worry about Gaoming developing any lingering ailments..."

Then he looked at Wang Dude: "What on earth is going on? Why did Gaoming suddenly fall from his horse?"

"This... this old slave doesn't know either..." Wang Dude stammered.

He wasn't pretending to be clueless; in truth, the incident happened so abruptly that he genuinely had no idea.

After all, the eunuchs of this era were not yet like those of the Ming dynasty, who controlled secret service agencies like the Eastern Depot; they were far from omniscient.

"What use are you!" Li Shimin cursed, then commanded, "Prepare the carriage for the Eastern Palace, I am going to see Gaoming!"