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Chapter 108:
Chapter 108:
Chapter 108:
Everyone has their own bias, who doesn’t? Li Er is the same. His 2 older children he personally brought up and now that they are adults, one does all the right things and the other is rebellious. So who would he prefer? Of course the one who does things he approves off.
Now that Li Yuanying is growing up and is actually a smart kid who does the things he put his heart to and respects his elder brother very much. He even dares to share things to him that no one else would and is willing to share his experiences sincerely. Li Er thinks that this is a good kid that he likes too.
This incident, someone made the mistake of making it too obvious and the Emperor is no longer able to pretend to turn a blind eye to it.
Although Li Yuanying out-rightly said that he doesn’t need any explanation, the Emperor cannot just do as he wishes. This younger brother of his has been living his life wildly and is not a cry baby. No one dares to offend him or wrong this little prince anyway. The last time Li Er has seen him crying so badly was when he snuck into his palace and saw the Emperor lying in bed sick.
This time the child really do feel wronged.
Li Er stayed at the Academy to console his younger brother before making a move.
Hearing his older brother’s promises, Yuanying became a happy child again. No matter how people praises him in the future, he doesn’t need to worry anymore. Brother promised to make it known to him personally if he starts to doubt his loyalty. That shadow figure pulling string in the dark do not have ammunition to do so anymore!
The Emperor’s current trip to the Academy was seen by many.
Mei Niang and the girls were the first to arrive. Seeing Yuanying’s red eyes she questioned if the Emperor gave him a scolding.
“If Lord Brother doesn’t scold me then I’ll be worried.” He assured Mei Niang and Wei Shu. “All is good, Lord brother will not be suspicious about me or Chengqian!”
But why not? (Mei Niang)
Yuanying shared the Emperor’s promise to him to the girls.
Mei Niang became quiet after hearing this. She didn’t expect the boy to play “tell me if you doubt me” card.
But can the Emperor’s words be trusted? She personally doubt so. But seeing the boy happy she didn’t want to pour cold water on him. Perhaps people who are direct has their advantages too, that way no one would second guess their intentions since everything is said outright and there isn’t much room for people to twist your words. Thinking about this on another level, those who has real skills perhaps the Emperor already has thoughts about them!
It didn’t matter how serious the outward situation is because in Li Yuanying’s heart this is a settled matter. As long as his Lord brother doesn’t believe the rumors, how others perceive him doesn’t matter. What others think, don’t bother him, let them think whatever they want!
The Imperial Academy returned to a calm state but Chang’an City had much action. It started with some aristocratic children being moved around, including Fang Jun who was moved from the Imperial Academy to the Royal Military for training. Based on hearsay, Old Man Fang had a troubled expression when he attended court session lately and look a few years older.
The biggest news of all is that Prince Wei really is leaving to his own lands.
Most incidences are link, when a carrot is being pulled from the ground, it brings up dirt with it. Per Li Tai’s preferred way of acting, he does most things in the shadows and rarely goes public. Therefore, his secret intentions to battle with the Crown Prince has been kept very much confidential.
This round Li Tai has been so furious with Li Yuanying that he almost fainted. He has already managed to keep his footing in Chang’an through his wife’s pregnancy and just needed to lay low for a few months. But Li Yuanying went ahead and confess to him that it was his idea to the Emperor to move Li Tai away and so he became the most hated person to Li Tai ahead of Li Chengqian.
All these years, Li Tai has never treated Li Changqian with respect. In his eyes, Chengqian is just lucky to be born a year earlier. Comparing their education and talent, Chenqian cannot compare to himself. If you compare reputation, he is also better. If you compare father’s love, he is winning too. Why is Li Chengqian the Crown Prince and not himself?
Therefore when Li Yuanying made that suggestion to the Emperor, it severely ticked Li Tai off. How dare he? Why should Li Yuanying be able to influence father’s decision? How dare he try to destroy his hard work of plotting all these years?
This is the reason why Li Tai attacked young uncle in the shadows. He is unable to control his anger and wanted to lash back!
The act of him spreading rumors were done in a hurry and had many shortcomings. If the Emperor were to investigate, he will find out the whole truth.
The truth is one that Li Er is unwilling to accept. His beloved fourth son had secret ambitions of wanting to be the Crown Prince.
With this, it will mean that all things that Li Tai did in the past were to aim for the position of Crown Prince. Just because Li Yuanying gave the suggestion to move Li Tai to another state, he aimed his hatred towards him and lost his patience and acted rashly giving away his flaws!
The amount of love Li Er had for Li Tai in the past is the same amount of disappointment he had in him now. His beloved QingQue is now fully grown and will never be the cute innocent child again. Yet he wanted to believe that their family relationships will never change; in which father and son loved each other and siblings got along well, supporting each other.
But then …
The heavenly family had no room for family love nor brotherly relationships!
Li Er instructed that Prince Wei will leave for his fief by mid-April while his pregnant wife and child will stay back in Chang’an for the time being and travel only after the baby is born.
Mid-April came at a blink of an eye. Li Tai was in a dazed since receiving the royal decree and stayed that way for many days. He only came to his senses a few days before his travelling date and ran into the palace to hug father’s legs crying that he now knows his mistakes.
Although Li Er patiently listen to all his complaints and crying buy did not speak nicely with Li Tai like he usually would.
“You are now an adult and so will need to take on adult responsibilities.”
Li Tai instantly knew that he couldn’t change his fate and could only silently accept it.
As Li Tai was about to leave, he found out that the chief secretary initially assigned to him by the Emperor had been replaced by Quan Wanji. This Quan Wanji started off as an Imperial Censor and is well known for finding fault. A few years ago, he was tasked to be Prince Wu (Li Ke) chief secretary. When Li Ke went riding and accidentally trampled on some crops, he reported this incident without mercy. After that, Li Ke became fearful of doing everything and had to deal with such an official.
While Quan Wanji was still the Imperial Censor, he did well too.
For example, there was once a man named Li Hao De who spread rumour and was arrested. The officials in charged of justice Zhang YunGu initially wanted to let him off the hook by saying that he has mental issues and was having a breakdown. But Quan Wanji came forward and said that Zhang YunGu and Li Hao De’s brother were friends and he was trying to protect Li Hao De.
The Emperor became furious upon hearing this an executed Zhang YunGu. This was this incident that the Emperor regretted his actions and started a decree that execution should only be carried out on the 10 most serious and unforgivable crimes and all other sins needed to be trialed 3 times before a punishment is handed out.
As for Quan Wanji, he naturally escape unharmed for he only spoke about truths with facts and justifications.
From these incidents it can be concluded that Quan Wanji is not an easy person to get along with.
Li Tai had a heavy heart but didn’t dare to voice them out. Currently the Emperor is still angry and did not wish to speak to him. Even if he didn’t like this Quan Wanji he had no way of getting rid of him currently.
Quan Wanji wasn’t happy with this arrangement too. He has already serve Prince Wu and now he had to serve Prince Wei; this is a lateral move with no promotion. Furthermore all the bad things that Li Tai has been doing is now public knowledge. This once beloved prince by the Emperor has lost favour and Li Er do not wish to see him!
Being in a bad mood is just a feeling, he still had to get to work. Quan Wanji made up his mind to pay close attention to Prince Wei and will not allow him to make any mistake. More than that, he needs to remove any ambition he had to compete with the Crown Prince for the throne. The Emperor Li Er had already created such a history, his sons shouldn’t learn to do the same.
If Li Tai really did commit any wrongs that he is not suppose to, the first person to be found guilty would be him, the advisor to Prince Wei!
To keep himself safe from troubles, he needs to make sure Prince Wei behaves.
Li Chenqian being the Crown Prince had to personally send off his younger brother. Both siblings had not spoken in a long time. At the outer gate, Li Tai stood next to his carriage staring at Li Chengqian.
Chenqian stood silently for awhile: “Have a safe journey.”
Li Tai had a smirk: “I envy that you were born a year earlier.”
Being born 1 year earlier made everything the Crown Prince do legit, which unlike him despite working hard everything amounts to nothing.
“I also envy that you were born a year later.” (Li Chengqian)
Born 1 year late and allowed to live freely: cry whenever, play whenever. It didn’t matter if it was grandfather or mother, everyone loved him. The amount of conversation father had with Li Tai in a day is more than a month that he spoke to Li Chengqian. If he was given a choice, why would he choose to be the Crown Prince? He would rather be like Li Yuanying, doing whatever he wanted and achieving whatever he puts his heart to. There is no high expectation to meet and life is easy and free.
Li Tai did not answer to Li Chengqian’s statement but climbed onto his carriage.
The first night away from Chang’an, Li Tai had a dream. He dreamed that they were still children living in the palace. The atmosphere in the palace suddenly became tense and everyone’s faces were covered with tension and solemnity. Both brothers sensed that something was wrong but mother comforted them saying all is okay. Go back to sleep and all would be fine when they wake up. Sure enough, when they woke up, everything has changed.
Cousins who they often played with all disappear.
They found out the reason their cousins had gone missing from servants who let news accidentally slip.
They were all dead.
Papa is now King.
Therefore, being the Crown Prince can also mean death.
Li Tai open his eyes in shock.
The sky has turned white.
Its daybreak.
It was also on this day that Li Er ordered an edict to restore the late Prince Ying as crown prince, and to make Li Yuanji Prince of Chao.