Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 171 Li Er: My big son!
Assassination?

It's an assassination!

Someone wants to kill me!
If it weren't for Yuchi Xunyu...

Li Ming's subconscious mind was running at full speed.

But his body was limp and completely out of control.

Damn it, move!

Yuchi Xunyu, Yuchi Xunyu he...

Just as Li Ming was struggling with his numb limbs.

Yuchi Xunyu, with the light behind him and an arrow stuck in his body, suddenly moved.

He strode towards Li Ming!

"I... Cao?"

Before he could react, Li Ming was grabbed by the collar by the little black-haired guy and dragged out of the stall.

"What are you standing there for? Run away!"

Yuchi Xunyu roared loudly, pulled Li Ming, and ran along the street desperately.

As Li Ming ran, he shouted in surprise:

"You're not dead? Weren't you shot by an arrow?!"

"Being shot is being shot, and dying is dying. These are two different things, okay?"

As Yuchi Xunyu spoke, he pulled out the arrow that had pierced his sleeve.

"Damn, I give up!" Li Ming's mouth twitched.

There was a sticky liquid on the arrow, which must have been poisoned.

The assassin really meant to kill him.

"I heard the sound of a bowstring behind me, and I pushed you away subconsciously. God bless you, the poisonous arrow missed my heart by a few inches!"

Yuchi Xunyu was still frightened.

This is thanks to the skills he acquired on the Liaodong battlefield.

Otherwise, Li Ming might have met with an accident...

"There's a thief! There's a thief!"

I heard screams from passers-by behind me.

Two masked men jumped out from their hiding corner and chased after the two children.

One of them was wielding a round knife, while the other was already drawing his bow and drawing an arrow.

"Go away!"

Yuchi Xunyu kicked Li Ming into a small alley.

The next second, the arrow hit the spot where he had just stood and penetrated the ground an inch deep.

…………

"You must be very careful when you go to Xueyantuo. Listen more and watch more. Don't be too cautious when dealing with the Tiele barbarians..."

"It's just a lie."

Early in the morning, Xue Wanche and Qibi Heli were choosing saddles in the West Market.

Qibi Heli, following the order of Your Majesty, set out on a diplomatic mission to Xueyantuo the next day.

In name, he was discussing the marriage of the princess with Zhenzhu Khan Yinan.

In fact, it was to paralyze the enemy, delay time, and at the same time investigate the movements of the Tiele tribes and other Xueyantuo tribes.

Because he had to go to court early tomorrow morning, Xue Wanche practiced it for his brother Qibi in advance today.

"I naturally know the true meaning of your majesty's action. I have already thrown my life and death aside and will not fail in your mission!"

Qibi Heli said it in a tragic and heroic voice, with the spirit of "the wind is whistling and the Wei River is cold."

Xue Wanche was stunned:
"There's no need to take such a risk, right?"

"A country of etiquette will punish those who are not polite, and China will punish the four barbarians, and it is important to have a legitimate reason to attack. Xueyantuo is rude, and Your Majesty wants to attack them, but because you have no reason to send troops, you have delayed until now."

Qibi Heli said with great passion:
"When the lord is worried, the minister will be humiliated; when the lord is humiliated, the minister will die. How could I not know your majesty's worries?

"I will follow the example of the Han envoys, behead the barbarian officials, capture the barbarian leaders, and kill the mothers of the barbarian men. I only ask for death, so that our army will have an excuse to massacre the Xueyantuo..."

"No, no, no, why do I feel like you misunderstood?" Xue Wanche quickly interrupted Qibi Heli's bold idea:
"Your Majesty only asked you to investigate the situation of Xueyantuo, not to do anything big there."

"Oh, really?" Qibi Heli felt a little disappointed for some reason.

Unable to annihilate the enemy mother, he suddenly felt that this business trip was boring, and casually changed the subject:

"Princess Danyang still doesn't want to sleep with you?"

He is not making a dirty joke about his old friend here, but means it literally.

Xue Wanche shook his head and scratched his scalp in distress:
“She thought I was stupid and wouldn’t let me stay in the same room with her because she was afraid I might infect him.

"So stupidity can be transmitted from person to person like the flu? Then who infected me in the first place?"

"..." Qibi Heli looked at his old friend's big eyes which were full of clear stupidity, and suddenly he became worried about his own IQ.

He shook his head and got back to the point:

"If you have made great contributions and His Majesty praises you, your wife will naturally obey you in everything."

Xue Wanche smiled bitterly and said:

"It's not that easy to achieve great success. It's not enough to just have the courage to put your head on the belt. It requires opportunity.

"If you don't have a bedroom, you can sleep in the woodshed. There's nothing wrong with the woodshed.

"Chang'an is peaceful now, and I am just a civil servant in charge of civil engineering. Could it be possible that a meritorious service will fall from the sky..."

Halfway through his words, he saw something falling from above out of the corner of his eye and subconsciously reached out to catch it.

He caught a plump little white ball of meat steadily.

It was His Highness Li Ming who was escaping for his life.

"General Xue! Someone is trying to assassinate me! Go and help Yuchi Xunyu!" Li Ming jumped out of Xue Wanche's arms and pointed at the second-floor window where he jumped out.

Xue Wanche subconsciously followed Li Ming's finger and looked upwards.

At the window, a little black-haired boy was walking around the pillar with two big men with their faces covered.

The corner of Xue Wanche's mouth twitched, as if he felt the soft touch of his bedroom bed again.

…………

"Ugh……"

Liangyi Hall, a small-scale court meeting of important officials.

Li Shimin frowned and sighed inadvertently.

The sharp-eyed trusted minister immediately asked with concern:

"Why are you worried, Your Majesty?"

"It's just a family matter, not worth mentioning." Li Shimin waved his hand.

Amid repeated advice that "emperors have no family affairs", His Majesty Li Shimin reluctantly said:
"Prince Jin is ill and has had a fever for several days. I am a little worried."

Several ministers looked at each other and their brains began to work rapidly.

At a time when the battle for succession is becoming increasingly fierce, your Majesty's statement regarding any of your legitimate sons cannot be taken lightly.

No matter how the four sons compete, no matter which side the ministers take, the final right of interpretation for the selection of the crown prince lies with Your Majesty.

The attitudes of various interest groups are certainly worth considering comprehensively, but Your Majesty’s decision-making power is also very important.

Therefore, your majesty's sudden concern for a certain prince is very worthy of the ministers' speculation.

Your Majesty may inadvertently reveal his preference for a particular candidate for the crown prince.

This will further affect the attitudes and positions of the ministers.

After all, except for the stubborn diehards like the Fourteen Parties, the other ministers will help whoever wins, with the attitude of "moving the tree will save the dead and the people will live".

Otherwise, if one day you wake up and your butt isn't straightened yet, you won't even be able to eat your shit while it's still warm.

And when most of the fence-sitters placed their bets on a certain prince, the emperor and his court officials reached a tacit understanding about that prince.

This means that the new crown prince has actually been born.

The next step is just to go with the official announcement and go through the formalities.

And now, Prince of Jin Li Zhi is showing signs of this trend.

At least it's a beginning.

Because those who are in the know know that the illness of Prince Jin, which has worried Your Majesty, is not serious at all, if it is mild.

Comrade Li Zhi's old habit came back. He took a car out of the palace in the middle of the night to see Chang'an City at four in the morning.

The wind blew and I caught a cold.

And a minor ailment like catching a cold was not even considered an illness for Shang Pharmacy, which was stimulated by Li Ming's two soul-chasing missions to the underworld and was frantically honing its medical skills.

Drink more hot water, take some medicine, and you will be fine after a few days.

Therefore, the ministers felt that they had discovered the key point -

There is something fishy about Your Majesty's sudden concern for His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has been taking medicine all year round, and His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei is not in good health either.

However, have you ever seen Your Majesty so worried about the two princes, even sighing in the court meeting?

Crown Prince, only the next Crown Prince will move your majesty's heart so much!
Thinking further, Your Majesty has always been an excellent actor (crossed out) and is well versed in the emperor's mind.

Don't unconsciously reveal your emotions.

His every frown and smile is meaningful.

Therefore, this unusual concern for His Royal Highness Prince Jin, could it mean...

Is Your Majesty testing the attitudes of several trusted ministers towards Prince Jin's succession to the throne?

Everyone was secretly fighting a lawsuit in their hearts.

As the new chief secretary of the Prince of Jin's Palace, Zhangsun Wuji lost no time in making a report:

"Your Majesty loves his son so much that he has worked so hard that he is exhausted, which makes me sad.

"Why not go visit His Royal Highness Prince Jin?"

The Prince of Jin lived in Lizheng Palace and could see a doctor anytime he needed.

But Li Shimin still answered in a very structured way:
"Now is a time of trouble and the country is busy. How can I neglect the affairs of the world for my own selfish affairs?"

The emperor and his ministers sang in unison, and the image of an emperor who is affectionate, righteous, and concerned about the world came to life on paper.

The attendant Chu Suiliang immediately picked up his pen and recorded this touching scene in his "Qijuzhu".

Li Shimin left behind wisdom that will be passed down through the ages, Zhangsun Wuji consolidated his position as King of Jin, and the ministers got a weather vane for the fight for the throne.

Triple win!

This little episode was like a break and soon passed, and the court meeting returned to normal.

The country is so big that there are always floods here and droughts there.

"Since the spring ploughing this year, the rainfall in the Yangtze River Basin has been significantly higher than in previous years, and many seedlings have rotted and died. "I am afraid that there will be a poor harvest this autumn. I hope Your Majesty will make preparations in advance, dredge the canal transportation, and build charity granaries to provide relief to the hungry people."

Fang Xuanling reported.

Li Shimin's face darkened:
"This autumn is also the time to use our military force against the Xueyantuo. By then, both the north and the south will have a need to transport food and goods, and the grain transport will be very tight.

"This water conservancy and water transport..."

Speaking of this, Li Shimin felt a headache.

These two major events are within the jurisdiction and responsibilities of the Ministry of Industry.

Can that stupid Minister of Works named Xue do it?

At this moment, the eunuch hurried into the hall and whispered a few words in His Majesty's ear.

Li Shimin listened with a frown, and suddenly his body was shocked.

After the eunuch delivered his message, he quickly left.

But Li Shimin seemed to still be immersed in shock, with his eyes wide open, looking blankly ahead.

"I think we should build a new canal between Hangzhou and Youzhou."

"Distant water cannot quench immediate thirst. We should dredge the Hang Canal and dredge the Jing and Wei rivers."

"The wasteland in Jingxiang should be developed..."

As usual, the ministers exchanged suggestions and advice.

But these words entered Li Shimin's left ear and leaked out of his right ear intact.

Ever since he heard the news reported by the eunuch, he has been in a state of panic. It seems as if there are nails on the dragon couch, making him feel uneasy.

brush!
Just when his trusted ministers were halfway through the debate, Li Shimin suddenly stood up.

The Liangyi Hall fell silent.

The ministers looked at each other and dared not say a word.

Although this was a small-scale court meeting, it was still a court meeting.

Unlike the secret meeting in the study of Lizheng Hall, there are certain etiquette requirements.

Standing up suddenly without warning during a meeting is undoubtedly a breach of etiquette.

This is the first time that Your Majesty has lost his composure like this in all the years since he came to court.

Even five years ago, when Empress Wende died suddenly.

His Majesty just collapsed on the dragon couch and cried bitterly, "that's all."

Although he might have been too sad to stand up at that time, according to Tang etiquette, crying was allowed, but standing up without speaking was considered impolite.

If an official behaves improperly in front of the palace, he will be impeached and have his salary reduced or deducted.

Of course, the Palace Censor could not punish the emperor for this as he would punish his ministers.

But the recorder would definitely record this incident in the "Qijuzhu".

Being rude and inappropriate is a small matter.

It would be ugly to record in history books if the court meetings discussing major military and national affairs such as disaster relief and warfare were interrupted at random.

Emperors all care about their reputation after death, especially one like the current emperor, who had a somewhat "bumpy" rise to the throne.

So, what happened to make Your Majesty act so abnormally that he even disregarded the evaluation of history books?
Everyone in the Liangyi Hall held their breath and waited, their hearts beating like crazy.

What big thing happened?
Could His Majesty, who is always calm and composed, be so shocked and distracted?
Could it be that Xueyantuo really stepped on the accelerator and sped to the city of Chang'an?

But in the early years of Zhenguan, when the Turks stepped on the accelerator, Your Majesty did not jump up in surprise!
Just as several important ministers were waiting for His Majesty to answer their questions.

Li Shimin's lips moved slightly, and he muttered a few words indistinctly:
"I will change my clothes and leave the court."

He then grabbed the hem of the dragon robe and quickly left the Liangyi Hall.

A group of important officials were left standing there with eyes wide open.

Although they got off work early, they did not feel relieved at all and were all confused and puzzled.

Judging from His Majesty's reaction, something big had obviously happened in the palace, forcing him to "run to the bathroom."

What's the big deal?

Zhang Sun Wuji went to the eunuch to ask:

"Eunuch, may I ask what happened to alarm His Majesty?"

During the Tang Dynasty, eunuchs were the leaders of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which was equivalent to a respectful title.

Surrounded by a group of high-ranking officials, the eunuch felt pressure that was not in line with his level.

Moreover, this matter was not a secret and the whole city knew about it in half a day.

So he answered vaguely:
"It seems that the Liaodong Jiedushi had some problems outside the palace. Fortunately, he is fine, please rest assured."

The governor of Liaodong is Li Ming...

The corner of Changsun Wuji's mouth twitched.

Several other important officials raised their eyebrows almost at the same time.

It seems that "that" naughty prince finally hit a hard rock while having fun outside.

This is not the point.

The point is, His Majesty's reaction to this.

It was obviously just a false alarm.

His Highness Li Ming has returned to the palace safely.

Your Majesty is so anxious!
Li Shimin's inappropriate reaction just now was seen by the ministers without missing a single frame.

Not only was he distracted and on pins and needles, but he also ended the court meeting in an unprecedented haste.

Who are you trying to fool by saying you're changing clothes?

Your Majesty was obviously going to visit the Jiedushi who survived the disaster.

Even though Li Ming was fine.

In comparison, His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin is still sick and groaning in bed, and His Majesty has not been seen to be in such a panic.

Your Majesty's concern for the Prince of Jin cannot be said to be inappropriate.

He would not be dazed, would not stand up abruptly in the court, and would not interrupt the court meeting without warning.

Every move he made was in accordance with propriety and law, and even when recorded in history books, there was not a single fault to be found.

Your Majesty's concern for the Jiedushi is indeed a bit inappropriate.

It will almost certainly be labeled by historians as "family affairs taking precedence over national affairs."

But Your Majesty did it anyway.

in other words.

Your Majesty can disregard etiquette, history books, and future generations’ opinions regarding your feelings towards Li Ming...

The ministers present did not say a word, but had an intense conversation with their eye contact.

Those who could attend this small-scale court meeting were not ordinary ministers.

As smart as they are, they can naturally understand the deep meaning of this.

How history books evaluate this incident is a matter for future generations to decide.

What they need to consider is the present and their own political future.

They had some different ideas about the emperor's inclination in choosing the crown prince and their own future position.

"Alas...it's him again."

Changsun Wuji rubbed his nose tiredly.

Ah……

It’s Li Ming again.

Why can't I avoid this guy even after changing jobs?

Among the four sons competing, as the uncle of the three legitimate sons, he had a three-quarters chance of winning.

But don't let this foreign "nephew" intercept you...

Damn, what kind of trouble did that guy get into outside the palace?
Why can't the trouble be bigger?

Help him solve the trouble of that person named "Li Ming"!
…………

"Tomorrow!"

Li Shimin almost rushed into Li Ming's study in Lizheng Hall.

Li Ming, Yuchi Xunyu, Xue Wanche and Qibi Heli, two pairs of four funny guys, were drinking tea and bragging leisurely.

Seeing the emperor rushing in with an anxious look on his face, the three of them almost flew up on the spot and bowed to him.

Li Shimin's gaze automatically passed over the three people and fell on Li Ming, who was still sitting there with a swagger.

He was full of energy, had no injuries on his body, and was still as indifferent as usual, except that his clothes were stained with dust. He didn't even change his clothes and just sat on the mat carefree.

Huh... Li Shimin breathed a sigh of relief silently, his spirit suddenly relaxed, and he almost couldn't stand steadily.

"Your Majesty!" The eunuch hurriedly supported him.

Li Shimin waved his hand and asked in a low voice:

"Have you asked Shang Pharmacy to take a look?"

"The imperial physician has examined carefully and confirmed that His Highness the Jiedushi is fine." The eunuch replied.

Li Ming, who has achieved success again in Chasing Ghosts in the Underworld, has now become the academic authority of Shang Pharmacy.

The imperial doctors examined him very carefully, and were a little disappointed after confirming that not even the skin was broken.

He lost the opportunity to show his divine powers in front of the new miracle doctor.

"It'll be fine if nothing happens."

Li Shimin said softly.

His face suddenly changed, turning into a sad expression. Amidst everyone's stunned gazes, he rushed to Li Ming and picked him up.

"Ming'er! Are you okay? I was so worried about you!"

Crying with tears and snot.

"Huh? I...I'm fine."

Li Ming was a little dazed by his father's sudden excitement.

"Cough cough." Li Shimin coughed lightly.

Li Ming glanced at the study door.

The attendant Chu Suiliang was watching the touching farewell between father and son with his eyes wide open. His fingers were tightly gripping the paper and pen, and they were turning white.

Li Ming immediately covered his face and burst into tears:

"Grandpa, I'm so scared! I'm afraid I can no longer be filial to you!"

The two movie kings cried bitterly.

(End of this chapter)