Datang: Just been appointed as the crown prince, the counterattack system is here

Chapter 349 Everyone Has Their Own Thoughts, Anything Is Possible! [Bonus Chapter 23 for the Dreamers Watching TV Alliance Leader]

The continuous spring rain, carrying a chill, silently soaked the simple gray-tiled eaves.

Rainwater slowly gathered along the eaves and dripped onto the wet bluestone slabs in front of the steps, making a monotonous and cold sound.

Inside the main hall of the Prince's Mansion, the light was dim, and the air was filled with a lingering dampness mixed with the scent of old wooden furniture and books.

The hall looked very spacious, with very few furnishings.

If it weren't for the three faded gold characters "Shu Prince's Mansion" at the main gate, you would hardly recognize what you see as the decorations of a prince's mansion.

At this moment, Li Ke was sitting behind his desk, wearing a worn-out prince's robe with the cuffs slightly faded.

His back was straight as a pine tree, and his gaze was calm and focused on the spread-out tax books of the prefecture and county, which he was examining very carefully.

If one doesn't look closely, some people might mistake him for Li Shimin in his youth.

He traced the still-wet ink of the characters with his fingertips, then stopped at the final settlement position, a faint, cold smile flashing in his eyes.

"The initial shocking deficit has finally been quietly replaced."

The words had barely left his mouth when a voice came from outside the door: "Your Highness!"

The voice was deep and respectful, but Li Ke did not respond immediately. Instead, he calmly closed the account book, pushed it to the side of the desk, and said indifferently, "Enter!"

Soon, a young man walked in with light steps.

He held a plain official document in both hands and presented it to Li Ke, saying, "This is a routine report from Chang'an Post Station."

Although he kept his voice very low, Li Ke reacted instantly.

Often, ordinary things reveal extraordinary meanings.

"Have all the grain supplies sent to Liaodong been delivered?"

Li Ke took the ordinary official document, but did not open it immediately. Instead, he asked the question that he was most concerned about at the moment.

The young man paused for a moment, then quickly replied, "Your Highness, according to our pace, it should have been delivered yesterday."

"Well, it arrived a day earlier than the deadline set by Father Emperor, which is good."

Li Ke nodded without showing any emotion, then, in front of the young man, he broke the wax seal, unfolded the paper, and quickly scanned the lengthy, official document at the beginning before finally settling on the inconspicuous last few lines: "...The Emperor Emeritus summoned his ministers before the Ghost Festival, saying he would be hunting in the Luoyang Garden. All the ministers complied, but five days ago, Duke Du Ruhui of Cai suddenly passed away, and the hunt was postponed."

Three days ago, on Empress Zhangsun's birthday, Prince Wei, Li Tai, presented her with a pair of luminous pearls, each the size of a sparrow's egg, their light dazzling. The Empress was delighted, praising his filial piety and sincerity, and expressing some longing for him.

Two days ago, His Majesty issued an edict appointing Crown Prince Li Chengqian to command the 200,000-strong army in the north, while temporarily granting him military power in Longyou.

The handwriting was clear, yet it was like a poisoned ice needle, silently piercing the eyes.

The air suddenly froze, with only the patter of rain outside the window, tapping against the windowpane and the deathly silence of this humble dwelling.

The young man held his breath, his gaze fixed on Li Ke's face, trying to discern a ripple beneath the tranquil surface of the ice.

After a long while, Li Ke put down the secret report, tapped his fingertips lightly on the cold wooden table, the sound was extremely soft, yet it carried a strange penetrating power, shattering the solidified air.

He raised his eyes, his gaze calm and unwavering, revealing no emotion whatsoever. He simply said, "Huailiang, I'm thirsty. Could you get me a cup of tea?"

Cheng Huailiang's Adam's apple bobbed, as if he wanted to say something but didn't know what to say. In the end, he bowed respectfully and silently withdrew.

Soon, his figure disappeared into the drizzling rain outside the door.

The hall returned to its previous silence.

Li Ke came to the window alone and looked out. The fine rain wove a hazy white curtain, blurring the outline of Yizhou City in the distance.

He was not supposed to be in Yizhou City at this time, but it was thanks to his good half-brother that he was here.

Similarly, in less than a year, the entire city of Yizhou was permeated with his silent will, just like when the Crown Prince descended to Jiangling back then.

Although Yizhou's rapid development actually benefited from Jiangling's economy, Yizhou had an inherent advantage that Jiangling lacked: it was sufficiently secretive.

Yizhou, nestled amidst towering mountains, is a goldmine buried deep underground, a bastion of local powerful clans, and a hidden blade in the heart of the city.

Everything was growing in the shadows, just waiting for a thunderous strike.

He slowly closed his eyes, his fingertips caressing the jade belt at his waist; the icy touch penetrated straight to his heart.

It was sent by his mother, Consort Yang. He had never forgotten his mother's instructions, nor the story of Changsun Wuji, who had almost killed them.

Of course, the most important person is the good older brother who forced him to come here.

When Li Ke opened his eyes again, the anger and resentment in his eyes vanished in the next moment, leaving only a composure and calmness that did not belong to his age.

"Your Highness!"

Another voice sounded outside the door, but it wasn't Cheng Huailiang's; it was Chai Zhewei's.

These two childhood playmates, the Five Tigers and One Tai Sui who were famous in Chang'an, became his right-hand men in Yizhou and enjoyed his deep trust.

But then he turned around with a smile and said, "Come in!"

Soon, Chai Zhewei strode in.

Unlike Cheng Huailiang's reserved nature, Chai Zhewei seemed to have inherited his father Chai Shao's shrewdness, giving people a natural sense of friendliness, which always made Li Ke feel inexplicably relaxed when he was in contact with him.

But then Chai Zhewei said with a smile, "Third Brother, they've all arrived. Would you like to see them?"

"Heh, you must have gone to a lot of trouble."

Li Ke said with a smile, "So, have they gathered all the provisions for their next mission?"

"It didn't take much effort!"

Chai Zhewei waved his hand, then said with a grin, "As you know, I don't care whether my friends are rich or not. Anyway, none of them are as rich as my family. They're all friends, so they'll naturally give me face. Not to mention the next batch of supplies, even the one after that, they'll have to make sure I get them all!"

"I guarantee you'll win His Majesty's favor!"

Upon hearing this, Li Ke smiled noncommittally, then said, "In that case, let's go and meet them!"

With that, the two went out together.

However, just as they stepped out the door, Cheng Huailiang came over again with a cup of tea.

"Haha! Huailiang! How did you know I was thirsty?"

When Chai Zhewei saw the teacup Cheng Huailiang was holding, he grabbed it without saying a word and brought it to his lips.

Cheng Huailiang's expression changed immediately, and he hurriedly said, "Zhewei! How dare you be so presumptuous! This is His Highness."

"It's alright! Let Zhewei drink if he's thirsty!"

Before Cheng Huailiang could finish speaking, Li Ke interrupted him with a smile, saying, "Why don't you come with us to meet the talented people of Yizhou!"

"This"

Cheng Huailiang hesitated for a moment, then looked up at Chai Zhewei, bowed and said, "Yes!"

Although he didn't understand what had happened, Chai Zhewei's appearance did indeed improve Li Ke's mood a lot.

For about a year, Li Ke almost always smiled in front of Chai Zhewei.
Alas, the way of dealing with things that my father taught me doesn't seem to work very well with the King of Shu! He seems to be hiding a lot of things on his mind; I wonder how Chai Zhewei managed to do it.

Is it only Princess Shang who can truly become one of us?
"Huai Liang is gone, what are you still standing there for?"

Just as Cheng Huailiang was considering whether to talk to his father about proposing to the princess, Chai Zhewei and Li Ke had already walked ahead and couldn't help but turn back to remind him.

"Oh, here it comes!"

Cheng Huailiang reacted for a moment and quickly followed.

On the other side, at the Yangzhou Grand Governor's Office.

Looking at the azure sky outside the mansion, waiting for the rain, Li Tai felt no refined literary interest, only a heart full of anxiety, and paced back and forth in the mansion.

Those serving him around him held their breath, not daring to utter a sound.

Judging by the time, Li Tai has been in Yangzhou for a month or two.

However, in the past month or two, whether he held poetry gatherings or befriended local powerful figures, he did not attract the slightest attention from Li Shimin, who did not even ask him a single question.

This made Li Tai feel increasingly uneasy.

As a result, the poetry gatherings stopped, and the association with powerful figures also ceased.

He stayed at home for half a month until Empress Zhangsun's birthday was approaching. Someone suggested that he send a generous gift to attract Empress Zhangsun's attention.

So he carefully selected and finally obtained a pair of luminous pearls, hoping to move Empress Zhangsun to issue an imperial decree allowing him to return to Chang'an to celebrate her birthday.

When Empress Zhangsun received the gift, she simply said she missed him a little, and that was the end of it.

This completely baffled him, and he cursed his mother for being so heartless! As far as he knew, Li Chengqian was the son who hadn't given anything, and even that little brat Li Zhi had picked a wildflower from the flower bed and given it to Empress Zhangsun.

This shows how great one's filial piety is.

"Damn! You all deserve to die!"

Li Tai suddenly stopped and cursed.

Upon hearing his curses, Su Xu quickly stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Your Highness, please calm down. This matter cannot be rushed!"

"You say we can't rush things, but Father Emperor has almost forgotten about me!"

Li Tai gave them a cold look, his voice trembling with emotion.

But then Su Xu reassured him, "No, His Majesty will not forget His Highness. His Highness is His Majesty's favorite son; His Majesty himself has acknowledged this."

"What's your favorite thing?!"

It would have been better if we hadn't brought this up, because just mentioning it made Li Tai angry; "If he really liked me the most, why didn't he stop Li Chengqian from kicking me out of Chang'an?!"

"Besides, even Li Ke is helping him gather provisions, so what am I? He's probably already forgotten about me!"

As he spoke, tears streamed down Li Tai's face, and his fat jiggled with each sob, making him look quite comical.

"This"

Seeing Li Tai crying so bitterly, Su Xu didn't know how to comfort him.

Just then, Liu Yuan, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up: "I think we should do this: since His Majesty has not remembered His Highness, why doesn't His Highness contact His Majesty himself?"

"Ok?"

Upon hearing this, everyone was slightly taken aback.

Even Li Tai, who was crying, couldn't help but stop crying.

With tears streaming down his face, he pressed on, asking, "What do you mean by that, Scholar Liu?"

"hehe."

Liu Yuan smiled, then glanced at Su Xu and said, "To be honest, Your Highness, when I was in Chang'an, I often wrote letters to my father, sometimes two or three a day. My father was busy with official duties and often forgot about me, but I wrote to him every day, and even though he was busy, he would still reply to me with one or two letters!"

"If Your Highness were to persist in writing to His Majesty like I have, perhaps His Majesty would reply to Your Highness. In that case, how could His Majesty forget Your Highness? Perhaps when His Majesty returns in triumph, he might be so pleased that he allows Your Highness to return to Chang'an!"

"Ok?"

Upon hearing this, Li Tai's eyes lit up, and even his earlier sadness vanished.

He wiped away his tears, his voice trembling with excitement, and exclaimed, "Is this true? My father really will let me return to Chang'an?!"

"Uh, this."

Liu Yuan hesitated for a moment, then glanced at Su Xu and said vaguely, "Probably, after all, His Majesty once personally admitted his affection for His Highness."

"Good! You're right!"

Li Tai was overjoyed and immediately said, "I must write! I must write a letter to my father!"

After saying that, he immediately shouted towards the door, "Someone come here! Bring me pen, ink, paper, and inkstone!"

"Yes!"

A voice answered from outside the door, and within a short while, the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone that Li Tai needed were prepared.

However, when Li Tai came to the desk to write a letter, he suddenly found that his mind was blank and he had no idea what to write.

this.
That's pretty awkward.
Seeing Li Tai holding the pen, hesitating to move, the ever-understanding Su Xu cautiously suggested, "Your Highness, why don't you have the people from the Yuewen Academy write a few letters home for you to read and get a feel for it?"

"Need not!"

Li Tai directly refused, saying, "This is a letter I wrote to my father, how can I borrow someone else's letter?!"

After speaking, he pondered for a moment, then wrote: "Your Majesty, may you be well and live in peace: Your son, Tai, far away in Yangzhou, respectfully pays homage to Your Majesty with utmost humility and fear."

I must say, the little fat boy's writing skills are absolutely amazing.

The opening is filled with extremely humble and respectful words.

Those who witnessed this, including Su Xu, Liu Yuan, and other scholars from the Yue Literature Academy, were filled with astonishment.

It should be noted that Li Tai, the former Prince of Wei, was quite arrogant in Chang'an. Apart from repeatedly suffering setbacks in front of Li Chengqian, he was an absolute figure who looked down on everyone else.

But now, his opening remarks are sure to catch Li Shimin's eye.

After all, no one knows a son better than his father.

Li Shimin was naturally aware of some aspects of Li Tai's character.

The only thing that could make him make such a change was his plight. It evokes sympathy.

"Since receiving Your Majesty's grace and being enfeoffed in Yangzhou, three months have passed in the blink of an eye. Your son has been diligent and cautious day and night, fearing only that I may fail to live up to Your Majesty's expectations and damage the majesty of the imperial family."

As he wrote this, his pen deliberately trembled, and the ink dots scattered slightly.

Then he continued writing.

"Upon hearing the news of the victory in Liaodong, I intended to celebrate the might of our Great Tang Dynasty and pray for my father's well-being, fulfilling my duty as a subject and the virtue of a son. Alas..."

As he wrote this, his pen abruptly stopped, leaving a sudden, dark ink stain on the rice paper, like blood gushing from his heart.

He took a deep breath, and the trembling of his wrist became more pronounced, making his handwriting appear even more weak and feeble.

"Unfortunately, the water in Yangzhou was slippery, and with the constant rain, I slipped and fell into the river, catching a cold."

"Even with the help of skilled doctors, there has been no cure. Whenever it is damp and cold, the cough and wheezing worsen, the chest pain is like a stabbing pain, and I cannot sleep at night."

"hiss--"

When the scholars of the Yuewen Academy saw Li Tai write these two lines, they couldn't help but gasp. They then cautiously looked at Li Tai's face, only to find that he was completely calm and composed, as if he were taking it very seriously.

Good guy!
What a great guy!
His Highness Prince Wei's acting skills are so superb that even his words are overflowing!
Only now did they finally understand that none of those who could contend for the throne were simple.

The room was eerily quiet, with only the sound of pen nibs scratching on paper, the wind outside the window, and the rustling of leaves.

"My father once said, 'While parents are alive, one should not travel far; if one must travel, one should have a fixed destination.' I am doing well in Yangzhou, so my father need not worry. Once I have fully recovered, I will pray for my father again, wishing him a swift victory over Goguryeo and the restoration of peace to the world."

As he wrote this, his handwriting became smaller and weaker, almost illegible.

"A few days ago, I heard that the Crown Prince was fighting against the Xueyantuo army in Ganzhou. His bravery was no less than that of Xiang Yu, the King of Chu. I am ashamed and regret that I did not heed the Crown Prince's earnest teachings and could not share the Emperor's burdens. I am truly heartbroken and have nowhere to hide my shame."

The words were filled with remorse and self-blame, which made Su Xu and the others feel that Li Tai was sincere.

"Only by enduring his ailing body and exerting all his strength, he lay on his sickbed, washing his hands and burning incense, day and night, respectfully copying a thousand volumes of the Infinite Life Sutra."

At this point, Li Tai suddenly put down his pen and stretched his obese body.

After all, his previous deliberate tension had been very physically demanding.

At this moment, Su Xu thoughtfully handed over a cup of hot, damp towels.

Li Tai smiled as he took the hot, damp wipes, slowly wiping his hands. He glanced at the scripture on the desk, which seemed to have been untouched for a long time, and smiled knowingly.

After a moment, he put down the hot, damp towel and continued writing: "These thousand scrolls of scriptures are written with my heart's blood and soul, and I pray that they may be blessed with the eternal health of my father, the health of my crown prince, the invincibility of my elder brother, and the eternal stability and prosperity of our Tang Dynasty!"

"Though I cannot fight alongside my father and brothers, my heart and mind are as clear as heaven and earth, as bright as the sun and moon. I humbly beseech Your Majesty to bear witness. Your son, Tai, weeps blood as I bow in reverence, though I am ill."

After writing the last character "首" (first), his brush suddenly went limp, and the brush slipped from his hand onto the table with a thud, leaving a long, messy ink mark on the plain white Xuan paper.

He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, as if he had exhausted all his strength.

The candlelight flickered, constantly dimming on the obese face.

But his voice was hoarse, with a hint of just the right amount of weariness, and he waved his hand and said, "Alright, use the seal, and immediately send it to my father in Liaodong by express courier, without fail!"

"Yes, Your Highness!"

Su Xu carefully picked up the scroll of ink-stained memorial, which contained 'pain' and 'filial piety', and exchanged glances with Liu Yuan and the others.

Liu Yuan and the others immediately looked at each other in bewilderment.

As expected, our Prince Wei will not give up easily.

Even if he is far away from Chang'an, as long as His Majesty is still on the throne and has not yet passed away, he can still stir up trouble.

As the saying goes, anything is possible.

(End of this chapter)