Control your ancestors and create an immortal family starting from the Eastern Han Dynasty

Chapter 173 Return to Court, Palace Coup (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
Li Chengqian's personality was indeed extreme.

This is related to his situation.

At any time, someone in such a high position is destined to receive endless attention, especially with the current flourishing of literary style in the Tang Dynasty, all of which is bound to be amplified.

Since becoming a cripple.

The gazes of those around him constantly provoked him, especially the change in Li Shimin's attitude towards him. After Empress Zhangsun's death, the relationship between the father and son had completely changed.

Li Shimin once doted on him, but his foot ailment was also a thorn in Li Shimin's side.

This is completely unavoidable.

In the original history, Li Chengqian was far more extreme than he is today.

No, perhaps it shouldn't be called extreme.

His personality is somewhat pathological.

It's not just the well-known homosexuality.

Li Chengqian was inclined towards the Turks and often dressed himself as a Turk in the Eastern Palace, along with the palace officials, to act according to Turkic etiquette.

In addition, he often went on outings to the countryside with close members of the royal family.

This kind of outing is not just a simple way to relax.

He would divide the guards into two groups, each group wearing armor and carrying bamboo poles, and have them fight each other.

Although it's not a sharp blade.

However, Li Chengqian demanded that they fight with all their might, with those who won receiving rewards and those who did not fight seriously being punished.

Because his ministers repeatedly offered advice and even revealed his actions to Li Shimin.

Li Chengqian even attempted to assassinate his own teacher.

Although it ultimately failed.

But this also demonstrates just how pathological his personality is.

His most well-known statement was that he once drunkenly declared that if he ever came to power, he would go to the Turks and pretend to be a commoner, even if it meant becoming a general among them, it would not have been a wasted life.

In a series of records about Li Chengqian, we can see that he has two sides.

His foot ailment truly changed his life.

The same is true today.

Studying under the Gu family truly made Li Chengqian stronger, far surpassing the historical figure he once was.

The same applies to the ability to govern.

However, his personality still couldn't avoid becoming increasingly extreme.

In short—

His original historical self was somewhat morbid, and now he's simply extreme.

He needed something external to cover up his foot ailment.

Whether it's financial resources or power.

Li Chengqian needed these things to cover up a wound in his heart.

Once he feels threatened, things will spiral out of control.

That's how it is now—

The plan devised by Li Tai, Chai Lingwu, and others was not particularly clever; it was mainly aimed at targeting Li Chengqian's personality.

How could Li Chengqian not see it?

At first, he knew how to be patient, but as the enemy became increasingly audacious, he could no longer control himself.

Compared to the expedition, the atmosphere on the return journey was much more peaceful.

In particular, they also experienced a great victory.

The entire Tang army was incredibly excited.

However, the return journey was much slower.

The reason is quite simple: Li Shimin's body could no longer handle it.

Even though he wasn't riding a horse.

But the bumpy ride of the long journey still caused him great pain.

However, Li Shimin was not completely at his wit's end.

He had a very open-minded attitude towards death.

Unlike in the original history, he did not begin to pursue so-called immortality in his later years.

Some speculators have mentioned this.

But Li Shimin completely refused and even reprimanded them.

In his words, "If immortality truly existed, why did all those wise rulers of the past perish?"

Li Shimin indeed remained true to his original aspirations.

Even today, he still remembers the grand ambition he made in Julu years ago, which is extremely rare for an emperor.

Gu Jing stayed by Li Shimin's side the whole time.

Li Shimin seemed to truly regard him as a kind of sustenance, often discussing state affairs with him. His words contained both earnest guidance for the younger generation and deep remembrance of the deceased.

Because the emperor needed to rest and recuperate, the army's return journey was slow, and they did not arrive at the gates of Chang'an until the bitter cold winds of the year's end.

Outside the city gate.

Crown Prince Li Chengqian, dressed in solemn court attire, led the vast sea of ​​civil and military officials, kneeling on both sides of the imperial road to respectfully welcome the emperor's return to court.

The shouts of "Long live the Emperor!" echoed through the heavens.

Whether it was the officials in the court or the common people of Chang'an, they all greeted Li Shimin with smiles on their faces.

—The news of the great victory has spread far and wide.

Witnessing the emperor's safe return, the officials and the people were overjoyed, and all the people celebrated!
Under the watchful eyes of countless people, Li Shimin, despite his illness, slowly stepped down from the imperial carriage. Though his figure was hunched, his gaze remained as sharp as ever, slowly sweeping over the kneeling crowd. Finally, his steps stopped in front of Crown Prince Li Chengqian.

"well done."

The four deep and clear words exploded in Li Chengqian's ears like thunder!

His body trembled violently, and he looked up in disbelief, his eyes instantly welling up with an uncontrollable soreness and redness.

Father... actually praised him in public at this time and place?!
His throat bobbed, a thousand words welled up at his lips, and Li Chengqian was about to speak—

Li Shimin had already reached out and naturally grabbed his arm!

"Let's go," the emperor's voice was calm and even, as if it were just an ordinary father and son traveling together, "enter the city."

The courtiers were horrified!

Although Li Shimin's action was merely casual, it still caused his ministers to speculate wildly.

In fact, Li Shimin did do this intentionally.

That's just how people have always been.

Only when he truly reached old age could he calm down and think about many things. Upon careful consideration, he realized that compared to his other sons, he was indeed much more harsh on Li Chengqian.

This situation can be considered a small compensation.

Moreover, in his view, Li Chengqian did a good job as regent this time; at least in general, the Tang Dynasty was moving in the direction he had envisioned.

Seeing this, a flash of fear instantly crossed Li Tai's eyes.

He really wanted to say something.

However, it wasn't appropriate to rush forward at that moment, so they could only lower their heads and silently follow behind the father and son.

This is a grand celebration.

Although Li Chengqian's proposal was rejected, the people still held their own celebrations.

The same applies to officials in the imperial court.

At the victory celebration banquet.

Surprisingly, there were no court affairs taking place.

Perhaps influenced by the atmosphere, Li Shimin even drank two cups of wine, and felt unusually comfortable.

He generously rewarded his officials.

Li Shimin's greatest strength was perhaps his clear distinction between rewarding and punishing his soldiers.

Those who have rendered meritorious service will be rewarded.

Of course, Gu Jing is still the one who has received the most attention.

Now all the officials in the court and the public know the key to this battle and understand just how great a contribution Gu Jing has made.

Although they had expected it, the ministers still couldn't help but show a look of horror when they heard that Li Shimin had once again appointed Gu Jing as Grand Tutor.

Gu Jing is still so young!
He was only two months older than Li Chengqian, and he had plenty of time ahead of him. This truly acted like an invisible protective umbrella.

Even though the court officials did not think that Gu Jing could be compared with the most outstanding members of the Gu family throughout history, his current abilities made everyone understand the bottom line of the Tang Dynasty.

The ministers were filled with mixed thoughts, but none of them objected.

Although no one has ever deliberately brought this up.

However, the position of "Grand Tutor" had already become inextricably linked with the Gu family, and the implications of it were not something that just anyone could bear.

After the bestowal of rewards, the atmosphere of the victory banquet instantly reached its climax.

Amidst the sounds of music and laughter.

In the end, even Li Shimin got a little drunk.

And the celebration banquet finally came to an end.

Perhaps it was because he was too happy that even Li Shimin failed to notice the strange atmosphere in the court.

At the Marquis of Champion's residence, everything was as usual.

Gu Jing's promotion did not bring any changes to the Marquis of Champion's mansion.

Meanwhile, Gu Jing was telling the few remaining elders in his clan about his experiences on this sea voyage.

The report was not much different from the one given to Li Shimin.

However, the content related to the Tang Dynasty was changed to Gu's.

This is the Gu family's most important plan at present.

It has long been deeply ingrained in the hearts of every member of the family.

All the family members were very concerned about that unknown sea.

"The voyage is indeed fraught with peril, a journey fraught with peril and death," Gu Jing said, standing before the hall, his voice steady and powerful. "However, wherever there are obstacles, there is always an opportunity to break through!"

His gaze swept over the young faces present, and he continued to analyze: "The huge amount of supplies our army obtained on this trip were all safely transported by sea."

"This is clear proof!"

"As long as one is familiar with walruses and makes good use of the weather, the speed and capacity of their transport will far exceed those of land transport by ten or even a hundred times!"

Gu Jing meticulously analyzed and explained the extraordinary potential and strategic value of maritime transport.

However, as his gaze shifted, he keenly caught sight of Gu Lei in the corner—his brows were furrowed, his eyes were darting around, and a strange and uneasy expression flickered across his face!

Gu Jing's heart sank slightly, but he remained expressionless. He paused subtly between sentences before casually finishing his unfinished business.

As the meeting concluded, the disciples received their orders and dispersed, leaving the large hall gradually empty.

Gu Jing did not leave. He walked straight towards Gu Lei, who was still somewhat unsettled and about to leave, his tall figure silently blocking his way.

"what happened?"

Gu Jing stared intently at Gu Lei and asked directly, "Has there been any change in the court?"

He knew that Gu Lei and Li Chengqian were very close, and had obviously already guessed the general direction.

Gu Lei involuntarily avoided Gu Jing's serious gaze, then hesitated for a moment before asking with a wry smile, "Brother, why is that?"

"What constitutes a change in the imperial court?"

He wanted to help Li Chengqian keep it a secret.

But his expressions were far too obvious in front of Gu Jing.

Based on his understanding of his younger brother, he immediately determined that this matter must be related to Li Chengqian.

For a moment, Gu Jing couldn't help but frown.

No nonsense.

He dragged Gu Lei back to the room, slammed the door shut, turned and stared at him with an extremely serious expression: "You were involved in the struggle between the Crown Prince and the Prince of Wei?"

Gu Lei immediately shook his head: "How can members of the Gu family be involved in this matter?"

But seeing that Gu Jing's eyes were still sharp, he knew he couldn't hide it anymore and sighed deeply: "Brother... His Highness the Crown Prince... he murdered two remonstrating officials!"

--a bolt from the blue!
"They murdered two remonstrating officials?!" Gu Jing's pupils suddenly contracted.

Gu Lei nodded heavily: "I tried to persuade His Highness the Crown Prince... but he insisted on doing so."

As he spoke, Gu Lei sighed with a heavy heart and began to tell Gu Jing about the changes that had taken place in the imperial court in recent days.

Gu Jing's expression grew increasingly serious.

When he heard that a group of remonstrating officials were targeting Li Chengqian at every turn, he began to believe it.

He already knew what Li Chengqian's personality was like.

In that instant, countless thoughts immediately arose in his mind.

He knew perfectly well what this meant.

Given Li Shimin's personality, if he were to learn of this, he would be absolutely furious, and a tremendous upheaval would surely occur within the court.

—As for concealing it.

How could it be hidden?
Even if no one else reveals this, King Li Tai of Wei will definitely choose the most opportune moment to make his move.

"From this day forward, you are not permitted to leave the manor."

Gu Jing shook his head and looked at Gu Lei again.

"Brother!" Gu Lei's expression changed drastically, and he quickly grabbed Gu Jing's arm. "His Highness the Crown Prince has been framed."

"How can a king tolerate being constantly restrained?"

Gu Lei genuinely wanted to help Li Chengqian, and even wanted to emulate Gu Jing's actions from years past.

He was completely different from the other members of the Gu family.

He was not obsessed with the imperial court or world affairs; he simply loved poetry and songs and always wanted to do what he believed was right.

But how could Gu Jing give him that opportunity?

Moreover, in Gu Jing's view...

Even if Li Chengqian could become emperor, so what?

Can someone with such an extreme personality really be a good emperor?

The current situation is at a critical juncture.

The Tang Dynasty must maintain its prosperity in order to sustain its current educational activities and expand its maritime reach.

Li Chengqian was talented.

But for the Tang Dynasty at present, this is not actually the most important thing.

Just like Liu Shan during the Han Dynasty.

In times of change, what is needed is to maintain the status quo, not to constantly change.

He couldn't possibly let Gu Lei get involved.

Of course, Gu Jing himself would not interfere in this matter.

Regardless of what Li Chengqian will ultimately do.

Without uttering a single word, Gu Jing immediately ordered the guards in the manor to keep an eye on Gu Lei.

He himself acted as if he knew nothing about it, continuing as usual.

Time flies.

Although Li Shimin's health was declining, he regained control of the court and personally reviewed the various events during the reign of Crown Prince Li Chengqian.

Memorials to the emperor were piled up like mountains.

Although there were some minor flaws that displeased the emperor, they did not significantly affect the foundation of the nation.

After reading it, Li Shimin did not utter a single word.

In the imperial court, all was calm and peaceful, as if everything was as usual.

No one brought up the past.

However, as time went by, Li Shimin gradually noticed something was wrong—why was Li Tai, who used to pay his respects so attentively, so quiet?
Since his return to Chang'an, apart from being summoned to the capital for an audience, the Prince of Wei has never once set foot in the palace gates on his own initiative!
An emperor's heart is as deep as the sea and as sharp as a hawk's.

A sense of unease crossed his mind, and he immediately issued a decree in a deep voice: "Immediately summon Prince Wei, Li Tai!"

Inside the Taiji Hall, only the father and son remained; the air was still and heavy.

Li Shimin's gaze was sharp as he pointed directly at Li Tai: "Qingque, why haven't you come to see me lately?"

Li Tai shuddered, raised his head to look at his father on the throne, and tears welled up in his eyes.

The next instant, his robes fluttered to the ground, and he kowtowed heavily, his voice trembling uncontrollably and choked with sobs: "Reporting to Father Emperor!"

"Son...I wouldn't dare!"

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(End of this chapter)