Deposed? I couldn't be happier! I wouldn't even be a dog to the crown prince.

As soon as Li Chengqian stepped out of the threshold of the Taiji Hall, he felt as if he had a pendant hanging on his back.

Before his luxurious carriage could even start, a round little ball of flesh rolled over, panting, at a speed that defied the laws of physics.

"Big brother! Big brother, wait for me!"

King Li Tai of Wei, a chubby boy known in history as "exceptionally intelligent" and "ambitious," was now shamelessly trudging along on his short legs, trying his best to catch up.

Li Chengqian lifted the carriage curtain and looked at his younger brother, whose face was flushed and whose body was trembling, and couldn't help but laugh.

"Qingque? Why are you chasing after me instead of studying in the palace?"

Li Tai climbed onto the carriage using both hands and feet, plunged into the soft couch, and clung to Li Chengqian's leg, refusing to let go.

Those tiny eyes, squeezed into slits by fat, were now sparkling with a blinding light of worship.

"Big brother! You're amazing!"

Li Tai, panting heavily, his voice trembling with excitement, said, "I saw it all in the hall just now! Father was furious with you, but he couldn't do anything about it! The way all the officials looked at you was like they were looking at a god!"

"Especially that line, 'How lonely it is to be invincible,' it's absolutely awesome!"

"Brother, please, teach me!"

Li Chengqian raised an eyebrow, tore the sticky piece of chewing gum off his leg, and pressed it onto the soft cushion next to him.

"What am I going to teach you? How to anger your father?"

"no!"

Li Tai shook his head vigorously, "Teach me how to be like you, without having to get up early to memorize texts, without having to go to the Hongwen Academy to listen to the old man chanting scriptures, yet still achieving great merit and leaving Father Emperor helpless!"

"I want to live like that too! I want to sleep until I naturally wake up!"

Upon hearing this, Li Chengqian's eyes narrowed.

Looking at the chubby seven-year-old boy in front of him, he recalled the ruthless King Wei from history who fought to the death with his own brother for the throne and finally swore to "kill his son and pass the throne to his brother".

Right now, Qingque is just a blank sheet of paper.

A blank sheet of paper yearning to be lazy and to eat, drink, and have fun.

"Since you want to learn, then I'll teach you."

Li Chengqian's lips curled into a "kind" smile, a smile that concealed the cunning of a big bad wolf luring a little white rabbit.

"Back to the East Palace! Your elder brother will teach you a lesson about what 'Happy Planet' truly means."

……

The East Palace was originally a study.

This place has long since been transformed into the "Happy House" by Li Chengqian.

The bookshelf wasn't filled with the Four Books and Five Classics, but with all sorts of novel toys: wooden Lego sets, stainless steel Transformers models, and even a homemade deck of cards.

On the table in the middle, instead of writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, there was a small mountain of snacks: potato chips, spicy strips (made of gluten), and chilled plum juice.

As soon as Li Tai entered the room, his eyes widened.

He felt as if he had stepped into a new world, where the air was filled with the sweet scent of freedom and decadence.

"Sit down, don't be shy."

Li Chengqian casually grabbed a handful of potato chips and stuffed them into Li Tai's arms, saying, "Let's eat and chat."

Li Tai cautiously took a bite, his eyes widened instantly, and then he began to eat in a whirlwind.

"Qingque," Li Chengqian leaned back on the soft couch, fanning himself, and began his brainwashing operation, "Do you think your father is happy?"

Li Tai, his mouth full of potato chips, paused for a moment, then shook his head.

"My father has to get up at dawn every day and review memorials until midnight. He's lost a lot of hair and still gets scolded by Wei Zheng. He doesn't look very happy."

"That's right!"

Li Chengqian slapped his thigh and asked, "Then what do you think is so good about being emperor?"

"Hmm..." Li Tai swallowed what was in his mouth, thought seriously for a moment, "Great power? The ability to do whatever one wants?"

"Wrong! Utterly wrong!"

Li Chengqian held up one finger and waved it in front of him.

"Being an emperor is the worst job in the world! It's like being a wage slave! You're working for everyone in the world!"

"Look at Father, he wants to build a palace and gets scolded; he wants to go hunting and gets scolded; even eating an extra bite of meat is controlled by the imperial physician."

"This is called doing whatever you want? This is called going to jail!"

Li Tai was stunned, forgetting to eat the potato chips in his hand.

That seems...very reasonable!

Seeing that the time was right, Li Chengqian leaned forward, his voice full of seduction.

"But it's different when you're a prince."

"If the sky falls, Father will hold it up; if the earth collapses, Elder Brother will support it."

"You have endless money, delicious food, and toys. You don't have to worry about national affairs or being criticized as a tyrant."

"All you need to do is eat, play, and gain weight, and be a carefree and happy prince."

"Isn't this kind of blissful life a million times better than being an emperor who works himself to death?"

boom--!

Li Tai's young mind was hit like never before.

My worldview has collapsed.

It has been reshaped.

His former tutor and mother both told him to strive for excellence and to be better than the Crown Prince.

But now his older brother is telling him that if he wins the fight, he'll be a laborer, but if he loses, he'll become a god.

Even a fool could do the math!

"Big brother!"

Li Tai threw away the potato chip crumbs in his hand, grabbed Li Chengqian's leg with a thud, and burst into tears.

"I get it!"

"I'm not arguing anymore! I'd rather die than argue!"

"I want to be a salted fish too! I want to be the second salted fish of the Tang Dynasty! From now on, anyone who dares to make me emperor, I'll fight them!"

Li Chengqian patted Li Taiyuan's round head with satisfaction.

well.

The biggest hidden danger was completely resolved with a meal of potato chips and a bit of persuasion.

From then on, the Tang Dynasty lost an ambitious Prince of Wei and gained a complete glutton who just lazed around and did nothing.

This is a win-win situation.

"Now that we've figured it out, let's celebrate!"

Li Chengqian stood up, stretched, looked out the window at the clear autumn sky, and suddenly felt a little hungry.

"Celebrate? How are we going to celebrate?" Li Tai wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth, looking expectant.

"Eating snacks is boring, we need to prepare some substantial dishes."

Li Chengqian walked to the wall, ran his finger across a huge map of the imperial palace, and finally stopped at a lush green area.

There, the words "Imperial Garden" were marked.

"I heard that Father Emperor recently spent a fortune to transplant a batch of precious peonies from Luoyang, and they're in full bloom these days?"

Li Tai nodded: "Yes, Father Emperor cherishes it very much. He waters it himself every day and won't let me touch it."

"Well done!"

A wicked smile crept across Li Chengqian's lips.

"If the flowers are blooming well, it means the feng shui there is good and the air is fresh."

"It would be a complete waste not to use such a great place for an open-air barbecue."

"Barbecue...?"

Li Tai shrank back in fright. "Big brother, that's the Imperial Garden! Father will kill people!"

"What are you afraid of?"

Li Chengqian put his arm around his younger brother's shoulder, displaying a heroic spirit.

"We're helping Father Emperor 'prune' the flowers and plants, and adding a bit of fun to his life."

"Let's go! Let's bring cumin and lamb!"

"Today, your big brother's taking you on a big heist!"

"Let's go to the Imperial Garden and give Father a big 'surprise'!"