The Fierce Teacher of Zhenguan: Starting with Teaching the Crown Prince to Make a Comeback

Chapter 71: Carving a stubborn rock into a work of art.

"Understood. You may leave."

His voice was unusually calm, devoid of any emotion.

Wang De felt as if he had been granted a pardon. He bowed respectfully, backed out of the main hall, and gently closed the door behind him.

In the deserted Liangyi Hall, only Li Shimin remained.

He remained seated, motionless for a long time.

His gaze fell upon the mountain of memorials piled on the imperial desk, but he couldn't concentrate on reading a single word.

He had noticed the changes in the Crown Prince.

From the initial attack on his character to the later opening of the palace to deal with the censor, and now to his shrewd performance in the Xiande Hall... step by step, link by link, seemingly risky, but in fact, he precisely stepped on a line that allowed him to show his strength without completely enraging him.

This was by no means a measure that Li Chengqian himself could control.

There's someone behind them.

An extremely brilliant person.

This man, in training the crown prince, understood better than his own father, how to manipulate Li Chengqian's rebellious yet fragile heart.

In his heart, he was pleased to see the Crown Prince make progress.

No father doesn't want his son to succeed, especially since he is the emperor, and his successor is related to the Li family's empire and the fate of the Tang Dynasty.

If the Crown Prince is steady and wise, and capable of shouldering great responsibilities, the burden on his shoulders will be somewhat lighter.

But this progress came too fast, too strangely, too... out of his control.

It's like a tree that was originally growing crooked, which is forcibly straightened by someone using methods they don't know, and even forced to grow lush branches that shouldn't have been there.

He was both delighted by the tree's uprightness and deeply terrified by the gardener's methods and motives.

If this person harbors ulterior motives and trains the crown prince into a puppet who only obeys his orders...

In Li Shimin's mind, one after another, the old stories of powerful ministers holding young emperors hostage and manipulating the court since the Northern and Southern Dynasties flashed through his mind.

Those emperors may have initially thought they could control powerful ministers, but in the end they all met their demise and the destruction of their kingdoms.

During the Hou Jing Rebellion, Emperor Wu of Liang, Xiao Yan, starved to death in Taicheng.

Yuwen Hu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty murdered three emperors in succession... This bloody lesson is recorded in history!

Li Shimin, who had dominated half his life, swept away all rivals, and ascended to the throne, could not tolerate the risk that his successor would become someone else's puppet.

A strong sense of irritability and...loneliness welled up in my heart.

He surveyed the vast and majestic palace.

He was the emperor, the supreme ruler, holding the reins of power over the world, and his word could decide the life and death of thousands.

But precisely because of this, he no longer had anyone he could confide in.

His ministers respected him, studied him, and used him.

Even key ministers like Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling were first and foremost subjects, and only secondly relatives and old friends.

Between them lay a chasm called "ruler and subject," and there were certain things he could not say, nor did they dare to hear.

He thought of his father, the retired Emperor Li Yuan.

Before Li Yuan raised his army in Jinyang, he had close friends like Dou Kang and Pei Ji, who were commoners. They could sleep and rise together, drink and feast all night, and discuss the affairs of the world.

Even after the uprising, although there was still a distinction between ruler and subject, Pei Ji and others could still be considered old friends with whom they could share intimate thoughts.

Even after Li Yuan abdicated and became the retired emperor, residing in the Da'an Palace, he was always accompanied by a few old ministers and former palace servants, who would reminisce about the past and dispel his loneliness.

But what about Li Shimin?

When a young man joins the army, he befriends his comrades-in-arms, such as Yuchi Jingde, Qin Qiong, and Cheng Zhijie. They are fierce generals and loyal ministers, but not people with whom he can confide his innermost thoughts.

After the Xuanwu Gate Incident, he ascended the throne on the blood of his brothers, and his relationship with the former officials of the Prince of Qin's mansion also subtly changed.

He needs to rely on them to govern the country, and they also need to be careful to uphold their duties as subjects and avoid becoming too powerful and overshadowing their ruler.

If it were Guanyinbi... Empress Zhangsun were still alive, she could still gently persuade him when he was troubled, and with her wisdom and gentleness, she could resolve much of his anger and anxiety.

She was his wife, but more importantly, he was his confidante.

But since her death, no one in this deep palace has been able to offer him any genuine comfort when he takes off his imperial mask.

He didn't even have anyone to talk to about these worries and fears.

A name involuntarily surfaced in his mind—Wei Zheng.

That old minister, always with a stern face, who frequently dared to speak frankly and bluntly, had angered him so much that he had considered killing him several times. Among all the civil and military officials, perhaps only this stubborn old fellow was unafraid of death, his heart filled only with the "way" and "reason" he believed in, and with the fate of the Tang Dynasty.

Only he dared to say things that were not pleasant to hear, but might be the truth, in front of the emperor.

Moreover, Wei Zheng had recently visited the Eastern Palace despite being ill, so he must have been observing the Crown Prince's condition.

Upon thinking of this, Li Shimin could no longer sit still.

He stood up suddenly.

"Prepare your everyday clothes. I am leaving the palace."

He did not travel in a royal carriage, but only took a few personal guards, changed into the clothes of ordinary nobles, and quietly left the capital, heading straight for the Zheng State Duke's Mansion in Yongxingfang.

The Duke of Zheng's mansion was deserted.

Upon hearing that the emperor had arrived incognito, the entire Wei household was thrown into a panic.

Wei Shuyu hurriedly came out of the central gate to greet him and was about to pay his respects with great ceremony.

Li Shimin waved his hand, stopping him.

"Where is Xuancheng? Take me to see him. There's no need to disturb anyone else, and no need for any formalities."

His tone left no room for argument.

Wei Shuyu dared not say more and bowed to lead the way.

After passing through several courtyards, we arrived at a secluded side room.

The air was filled with a strong smell of medicine.

Wei Zheng lay on his sickbed, his face ashen, his breathing weak and rapid.

Hearing the noise, he struggled to open his cloudy eyes.

Upon seeing Li Shimin standing in front of the bed, Wei Zheng's eyes flashed with surprise, and he struggled to get up.

"Your Majesty..." The voice was barely audible.

Li Shimin quickly stepped forward and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Xuancheng, lie down and don't move." His voice softened. "I've come to see you."

He waved his hand, signaling Wei Shuyu and all the servants to leave.

Only the two of them remained in the room, one sitting and the other lying down.

Li Shimin pulled up a folding chair and sat down beside Wei Zheng, silently watching this old minister who had devoted his life to the Tang Dynasty.

After a long while, he slowly spoke, his voice low and deep.

"Have you heard about what happened at Xiande Hall, Xuancheng?"

Wei Zheng closed his eyes slightly, which could be considered as acquiescence.

Although he was bedridden, his students and old friends still relayed important news from the court.

"Your Highness... your performance today has exceeded my expectations."

Li Shimin's voice was filled with complex emotions.

"He has learned to weigh the pros and cons, to consider the big picture, and even... to manage his subordinates."

He paused, then looked sharply at Wei Zheng.

"If we set aside everything else and only consider the changes in the Crown Prince himself, I am truly gratified. As a father, I hope my son will become a dragon. As a ruler, I hope my heir will be wise and virtuous. This is only natural."

Wei Zheng slowly opened his eyes and looked at Li Shimin.

He understood His Majesty, knowing his great talent and ambition, as well as his suspicious and thoughtful nature.

"Your Majesty... what you are worried about is not the Crown Prince's advancement, but the source of his advancement?"

When Li Shimin's thoughts were revealed, he did not deny them, but instead sighed.

“Xuancheng knows me.”

He leaned forward slightly.

"Although the Crown Prince's previous actions were quite eccentric, I could still make some sense of his thought process. His rebellion and resentment were all due to his foot ailment and my strictness. However, the recent changes, especially what happened in Xiande Hall today, show that his thinking is so deep and his methods so shrewd that they cannot be explained by the words 'sudden awakening'."

His fingers tapped unconsciously on his knees.

"I have investigated all the close attendants, companions, and even officials who have been in contact with the Crown Prince. Du He and Li Anyan have been transferred, and Li Baiyao and Xu Jingzong were sent by me, with clear backgrounds. The rest are all mediocre and do not possess the extraordinary talent to carve a stubborn stone into a useful object within a month or two."

(End of this chapter)