My hotel is full of emperors throughout history.

"Ouch! My head hurts so much!"

When Li Chengqian opened his eyes, he immediately felt dizzy and his temples throbbed.

He turned to look out the window, where the sun was already setting.

As Li Chengqian watched the sunset outside, a feeling of being abandoned by the whole world welled up in his heart.

"Is it already this late?"

Li Chengqian muttered to himself, looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar surroundings.

"Am I... at Brother Chen's inn?"

How did I get here?

Li Chengqian felt a splitting headache.

"So, what happened at noon again?"

He rubbed his throbbing temples, trying hard to recall.

"It seems like he went to dinner with Manager Chen, Lizhi, Sizi, and the others, and then..."

Fragments of memory begin to tumble and piece together.

"Please address Your Majesty as Crown Prince!"

"...Qingque...regent of the state..."

"...My legs...my legs..."

"...Mother...was because..."

The more Li Chengqian thought about it, the more cold sweat he broke out in.

I rely on! ! !

What did he say?!

As Li Chengqian reminisced, memories of noon gradually surfaced in his mind.

Li Shimin's furious face, Lizhi's worried eyes, Sizi's heart-wrenching cries...

The memory finally settled on one image—

"...I don't care!!!"

"Buzz—"

Li Chengqian suddenly sat up in bed, his back instantly soaked with cold sweat.

He... he actually said it back then...

He also explained the reason for his mother's early death...

Forget about all of that!

He even pointed at Li Shimin's nose and cursed him, saying that all the emperors after him started the line!

What the hell!

How could I have dared to do that back then?

A wave of intense fear washed over him like a tidal wave.

and then?

Then it seems he couldn't stay awake and fell asleep in the car.

I really can't remember anything that happened after that!

He couldn't sit still, he couldn't stand still, he just felt like it was all over!

Ruined!

It's a mistake to drink!

Li Chengqian inwardly complained, quickly changed his clothes, and then walked down step by step with his cane.

As soon as they walked down, they saw Zhu Biao, Fusu, and others standing in the courtyard.

"You're awake."

When Zhu Biao saw Li Chengqian come down, he hurriedly went over to help him down the stairs.

Li Chengqian nodded, then asked with a nervous expression.

"How is my father...?"

"...They're playing cards over there."

Zhu Biao turned his head to gesture.

Li Chengqian followed the gaze and saw that Liu Che, Zhu Yuanzhang, and Ying Zheng had somehow appeared.

The four men were sitting around a table in the courtyard, playing cards.

Li Chengqian swallowed hard and cautiously asked Zhu Biao beside him.

"I...I don't think I...did I do anything at noon?"

"No, not at all..."

Li Chengqian breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

But the next second...

"You almost made Uncle Li faint from anger, and you didn't even need to lift a finger."

Li Chengqian: ? ? ?

He looked at Zhu Biao with a resentful expression, only to see that Zhu Biao's face actually had a rare look of amusement on it, clearly mocking him.

Good guy!

Brother Biao, you've been corrupted by Brother Chen!

It wasn't like this before!

Li Chengqian remained silent for a long time, looking at Li Shimin who had his back to him, wanting to go up but not daring to.

Just as he was feeling uneasy, Zhu Biao suddenly nudged him gently.

Li Chengqian turned his head, and Zhu Biao looked at him with a gentle expression.

"Go ahead, don't worry, Uncle Li won't do anything to you."

"Believe me!"

Li Chengqian pursed his lips.

But what Brother Biao said is right; we'll have to face it sooner or later anyway.

Li Shimin can't possibly die tomorrow.

That was more than a decade ago!

He took a deep breath, hobbled over to Li Shimin with his cane, hesitated for a moment, and then gently touched Li Shimin.

"Ah Ye..."

Upon hearing Li Chengqian's voice, Li Shimin suddenly paused in his card-playing motion.

He didn't turn his head, but his voice was unusually calm.

"woke up?"

Li Chengqian didn't know what was wrong with him. He had been very dissatisfied with Li Shimin before, but after hearing him say this...

A lump formed in her throat, and all the words of explanation and apology she had prepared stuck in her throat; she couldn't utter a single syllable.

Finally, all the words were reduced to a faint whisper.

"Um."

Li Shimin continued playing cards.

But the curiosity of the other three people at the table was completely piqued.

Looking at Li Chengqian's remorseful and self-reproachful expression, and then at Li Shimin's complex face, Ying Zheng asked directly.

"What happened now?"

Liu Che had some guesses in his mind and turned his gaze to Li Shimin.

"Old Li, your son looks like he's just been dragged out and given dozens of lashes by you!"

After saying that, he threw down a card.

"One three."

"Press it down!"

Old Zhu played a five, looked at Li Chengqian's appearance, and clicked his tongue.

"It looks like he made a mistake. If I'm not mistaken, we probably had a fight."

"Tell us what you want to say and let the three of us give you some advice?"

"One two."

Li Shimin played a two without any expression.

"...It's nothing, just household chores, I won't trouble you three."

He should have kept quiet, because his words only made the three of them more curious.

"No, Old Zhu is right! Tell us so we can have some ideas!"

Ying Zheng flicked his hand, and a King card landed on the table.

"Putting everything else aside, I'm quite confident in my ability to teach children!"

Ying Zheng turned and looked at Fusu with a satisfied expression.

"Aside from being too inflexible before, I'm very satisfied with everything else!"

"don't want!"

Liu Che looked at the cards in his hand, then turned to look at Liu Ju, his face showing an expression of "My son is excellent."

"My son is quite good too! When it comes to children, the most important things are their natural talents and character, and my son has them all!"

"Come on!"

Old Zhu threw out four cards.

"Your two princes, one committed suicide and the other was forced to commit suicide, and you didn't teach them as well as I did?"

After saying that, he turned to look at Zhu Biao, his smugness almost overflowing.

"Look at our Biao'er!"

"He is capable of governing the country with his civil skills, and... uh... he can oversee the country with his military prowess! He is benevolent, filial, and virtuous, and enjoys the support of the people! Which official in the court doesn't agree with him?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's gaze swept over the three men.

"It's precisely because we've seen these negative examples that we're focusing our efforts on cultivating only one crown prince!"

"Our Zhu family's heir is still the most stable and worry-free!"

"That's what success looks like, you understand?"

Zhu Biao smiled, and he and Liu Ju and Fusu exchanged a glance, their smiles filled with helplessness.

What's the use of being outstanding?

In the end, none of them became emperor.

When it was Li Shimin's turn to play a card, he looked at the cards in his hand and remained silent for a long time.

I don't know if he was thinking about how to play his cards or something else, he didn't react for a long time.

Finally, after a while, he turned around and glanced at Li Chengqian.

"..."

Li Chengqian lowered his head, his knuckles turning white from gripping his cane so tightly.

I'm sorry... pa...

I've embarrassed you...

However, the next second...

"Your crown princes are all good, but my Chengqian is no less so!"