Tang Dynasty: A Guide to Avoiding Pitfalls for Li Er at the Start

Chapter 12 Is this brat spouting nonsense again?

You mean Li Jing?

"The famous military genius, who doesn't know him? He can turn the Eight Trigrams into Six Flowers and slaughter the Turks until they cried for their fathers and mothers."

Wen He nodded excitedly.

Among the military strategists in history, the ones he admired most, besides Han Xin, were Li Jing, Xu Da, Wei Qing, and Yue Fei.

When he traveled back to the Tang Dynasty, he thought that he might have the opportunity to fight against the Turks with Li Jing someday.

Li Shimin suddenly saw light in his eyes.

This made him secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

"I wish to have the apothecary replace Li Yi. Is that permissible?"

Is this a question for me?
No, Li Shimin would never ask for my opinion on such a crucial military matter.

That is……

He suddenly thought of Li Yi.

He immediately understood that it was Li Yi's earlier statement that he would rebel in the future that had aroused his suspicion.

But what if Li Jing did the same thing in the future, or what if someone else did the same thing?

That's why he asked Wen He if he could use Li Jing, hoping to get information about outsiders from him.

Knowing Li Shimin's thoughts, Wen He smiled calmly and said.

"The Duke of Wei, oh no, he is still the Duke of Dai. Although he did not support Your Highness, Your Highness will be credited with at least half of the credit for becoming the Heavenly Khan in the future. This has made him cautious in the future."

As he said this, he suddenly noticed that Li Shimin's expression was off, and quickly explained, "This is purely the Duke of Dai scaring himself. He thinks that his achievements are too great for the emperor, so he pretends to be sick. After you scared him once with the story of Sima Yi, he became more cautious."

"This pharmacist..."

Li Shimin couldn't help but laugh.

"Is this still the same Pharmacist Li I know? Why has he become so cautious?"

"It's all because of the repeated frights from you and His Majesty. Besides, he's getting old, so he should think about his descendants."

Li Jing later reached the pinnacle of his career as a court official.

Aside from granting him a nominal post, Li Shimin could offer him nothing else.

If he didn't back down, the knife would be on his neck.

Later generations said that Li Shimin did not kill meritorious officials and treated his ministers exceptionally well.

Firstly, most of these people came from powerful and influential families, so he couldn't act rashly.

Secondly, apart from Changsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang, his ministers all knew how to advance and retreat.

The arrogant and reckless Su Dingfang was merely sidelined by Li Shimin, and was reinstated when his son took over.

"What do you mean by 'scare'? I was just... Never mind, we'll talk about it another day."

Li Shimin abruptly interrupted the conversation.

He didn't know what his future self would think.

But as long as we know that Li Jing will pose no threat in the future, that's fine.

Li Jing is currently in Chang'an, and half of the troops at Kunming Pool are under his command.

Both the Crown Prince and the Prince of Qi were trying to win him over, as was Li Shimin himself.

Therefore, he was always worried that if Li Jing sided with the Crown Prince and the Prince of Qi, it would be very bad for his situation.

Fortunately, he was neutral.

"Fortunately, he was impartial."

For Li Shimin, Li Jing's willingness to help no one was the greatest help he could receive.

"You're transferring Li Jing to Jingzhou? What about Li Yi then?"

"If this goes wrong, it could force him to rebel prematurely, and then the Turks could take the opportunity to move south."

Wen He wanted to advise Li Shimin not to act impulsively, but halfway through her sentence, she saw the meaningful smile on the latter's face.

"Uh, you thought of that already?" "Of course I wouldn't summon Li Yi to the capital in my own name. Li Ziting doesn't obey my orders, but he doesn't dare disobey his father."

Wen He understood: Li Shimin intended to use Li Yuan's order to summon Li Yi to the capital.

As long as news within Chang'an is blocked, Li Yi will definitely not receive any information in a short period of time. Once he arrives in Chang'an, Li Shimin has a hundred ways to capture him.

"admire."

Wen He gave two thumbs up.

Li Shimin didn't know what this meant, but seeing that he always did the same thing when praising himself, he imitated him and returned the favor.

"It's getting late, let's have a meal together. Your stomach has been growling nonstop for a while now, it's really getting on my nerves."

Although he said that, his face was beaming with a smile.

Wen He rolled her eyes in annoyance: "It's all your fault for keeping me locked up and not giving me any food. All you gave me this morning was a sesame cake. I've been starving for ages."

"Then I apologize to you on behalf of Fu Ji. From now on, you can eat as much as you want in the Qin Prince's mansion. I'm not so bad as to not be able to afford to support you."

"Hehe, that's good. You're much better, Prince Qin. Unlike Changsun Wuji, who's full of schemes and plots, always thinking about comparing himself to Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui. He pretends to be friendly with them on the surface, but after Fang Xuanling died, Changsun Wuji treated his son like that..."

As soon as the door to the side courtyard opened, Changsun Wuji, his face ashen, stood there staring wide-eyed.

Two small old men dressed in coarse cloth robes stood on either side of him.

Li Shimin was also stunned. He glanced at the two old men without changing his expression, coughed lightly, turned around and glared at Wen He, signaling him not to continue.

"Your Highness, is this brat spouting nonsense again?"

"Brother Keming, Brother Xuanling, don't listen to that brat. He's good at making up stories. I've always acted with integrity and never been jealous of either of you!"

Everyone says you shouldn't speak ill of someone behind their back, but Wen He didn't believe it. She never expected that the first time she did it, she would run into the person in question.

There are still three of them.

Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui both looked at Wen He with curiosity.

They were talking just now, but I didn't hear what they said clearly. I only vaguely heard that Changsun Wuji was jealous of them.

This is nothing unusual.

It wasn't just Changsun Wuji; all eighteen scholars in the Qin Prince's mansion were vying with each other.

Who wouldn't be jealous of the two of them?

As they were sizing up Wen He, the latter also looked at the two seemingly ordinary old men in front of her with surprise.

I remember Fang Xuanling was only forty-seven this year, and Du Ruhui was only forty-one, so how come they look so old? Their beards are almost hanging down to their chests.

It was quite different from the image of a wise and virtuous person he had previously imagined.

Fang Mou Du Duan, it turns out, were just two ordinary old men, which is so disillusioning.

"Ahem, now that Kemin and Xuanling have arrived, that's perfect. Please come with me to have a meal first."

Li Shimin turned their attention to himself.

He regretted not stopping Wen He from talking nonsense earlier. Fortunately, he hadn't had time to say anything more, otherwise, if Fang Xuanling had overheard, there might have been trouble.

However, he also kept a watchful eye on things.

He remembered clearly that Wen He had just said that after Fang Xuanling's death, Changsun Wuji would take revenge on the Fang family.

If he were here, Changsun Wuji would not dare to do this.

But what if he died?
Li Shimin couldn't help but recall what Wen He had told him in the study earlier: that his unborn son would force Changsun Wuji to his death.

At the time, Wen He played a trick and used the word "power" to gloss over the matter.

He had originally thought that if Empress Zhangsun could not have children, Li Chengqian's ascension to the throne might avoid this problem.

But what if Changsun Wuji's ambition continues to grow?
With his clever methods, will he be able to deal with his uncle?

Li Shimin's face remained calm, but his heart was in turmoil.

He glanced at Changsun Wuji unexpectedly, and the latter's heart skipped a beat, feeling inexplicably flustered.

(End of this chapter)