SWDnovel Chapter 7 Li Chengqian: Satisfactory, you danced very well!
Chapter 7 Li Chengqian: Satisfactory, you danced very well!
Taiji Hall.
early morning.
Li Shimin sat in the center, with civil and military officials lined up on both sides.
In order to hone the crown prince's ability to handle government affairs, Emperor Taizong of Tang (Li Shimin) had Li Chengqian attend court sessions starting in the third year of the Zhenguan era.
The Crown Prince has recovered, and today Li Chengqian and Li Tai have both come to the court.
Wang De, the chief eunuch in charge of the imperial court, dressed in purple, shouted in a shrill voice: "Those who have something to say, step forward and speak; those who have nothing to say, roll up the curtain and dismiss the court!"
All the civil and military officials shook their heads and said they had nothing to report.
Li Shimin looked sharply at the crowd: "Since you have nothing to say, I do have something to say. A few days ago, Li Tai and Du He met on the street, but Du He did not bow to Li Tai. What do you think of his behavior?"
At this time, Du Ruhui had already passed away, and Du He had inherited his title, standing below the court.
Du He was handsome, but his face changed color immediately after hearing this.
With his overwhelming and unpredictable power, how many people in the world could not be afraid of Li Shimin?
Li Shimin said, "Du Ruhui did indeed make many contributions to the establishment of the Tang Dynasty during his lifetime, but I have not treated him unfairly. I have appointed him as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Minister of Works, and Duke of Lai."
Du He inherited his title, but no matter what, you are a subject, and Li Tai is the king. Why don't you pay your respects to the King of Yue?
Du He steadied himself and said, "Your Majesty, I am slightly older than the King of Yue. The King of Yue once took me as his teacher. I believe that according to ancient rites, the teacher's respect should come first, so I did not bow to him."
"This..." Li Shimin was speechless.
He had no idea that such a thing existed.
So he asked, "King of Yue, did you ever study under Du He?"
Li Tai blushed and said, "It is...it is true."
Li Shimin glared at Li Tai, thinking to himself, "Why did you bring this up last night? You've put your father in such a passive position."
Li Tai was so frightened that he lowered his head.
At this moment, Wei Zheng stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I believe that Du He has done nothing wrong. On the contrary, teachers are of utmost importance, and I believe that the King of Yue's failure to pay respects to Du He is a breach of etiquette and is wrong."
Li Shimin knew that this old Taoist priest never spared him any mercy in his words, but what he said wasn't without reason. Could he say that a prince could disregard the teacher's etiquette?
"The Prince of Yue is young, and his breach of etiquette towards his teacher may have been unintentional." Even at this point, Li Shimin was still covering for Li Tai, his intentions were clear to everyone, but no one dared to say it out loud.
"Although the King of Yue is noble, no matter how noble he is, he cannot surpass the Crown Prince. Your Majesty has ordered me to frequently visit the Eastern Palace to instruct the Crown Prince. However, no matter when the Crown Prince sees me, he has never been impolite."
However, looking at the King of Yue, he has met me several times but has never bowed to me.
Is he more noble than the Crown Prince?
"Does this humble subject think that he can teach the Crown Prince but not the rest of the family?"
It is undeniable that Wei Zheng's talent and learning are widely recognized. He offered countless suggestions and advice, and almost no one could compare to him.
Li Chengqian bowed and said, "The Secretary-General is exceptionally talented. I have often listened to his teachings and benefited greatly from them."
Li Shimin listened and lowered his head, remaining silent.
Wei Zheng continued, "There is a story that I think you may have heard. I remember in the third year of Zhenguan, the Crown Prince's Grand Tutor Li Gang was unable to enter the palace due to a leg ailment. So, the Crown Prince personally carried him into the palace and then humbly asked him for advice, with an extremely respectful attitude."
There were many people present at the time, and everyone saw it with their own eyes. How could they not know?
Upon hearing this, Li Chengqian felt a deep sense of kinship with his teacher: "The Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince has devoted himself wholeheartedly to teaching his students. What is it to me if I simply carry him on my back?"
The civil and military officials in the court were all talking about it, praising the crown prince, but shaking their heads at the King of Yue.
Li Tai originally intended to impeach Du He, but he didn't expect this outcome. His face flushed red and then turned pale, making him look very unnatural.
Secretary Su Dan observed this and nodded in approval of the Crown Prince.
Li Shimin looked at Li Chengqian and Li Tai and said, "Respecting teachers is a traditional virtue of our Great Tang Dynasty. A teacher for a day is a father for life. Therefore, you two must not forget the teachings and care your teacher gave you."
Whenever and wherever you see your teacher, you must show them the respect due to a teacher. Do you understand?
"Your subject has remembered."
After the morning court session, Li Chengqian walked step by step toward the palace gate.
Li Tai caught up with him, panting and covered in sweat.
"Brother, wait for me."
Li Chengqian stopped and turned to look at him. This guy was really fat; the fat on his belly was about to fall to the ground.
However, this person seems to have no awareness of dieting at all and can eat quite a lot. It is said that he can eat ten bowls of dry rice in one meal and only says that he is half full.
He was fortunate to have been born into an imperial family; otherwise, he would have been eaten out of house and home by the emperor.
"What is it?"
"Did you notice anything amiss in court today?"
Li Chengqian pondered for a moment: "No, isn't everything perfectly normal?"
"No, I feel like they have a problem with me."
"You're probably overthinking it."
Li Tai looked aggrieved: "Leaving aside others, take that old Taoist Wei for example. In his eyes, it seems that I am not some King Wei, but just an ignorant child."
No matter when he sees me, he has never bowed to me first. Today, Father only spoke to Du He, without saying anything to him, but he still complained.
Li Chengqian thought to himself, "Wei Zheng is quite old and highly respected in the court. I would still take the initiative to bow to him when we meet, let alone you?"
However, while he thought this in his heart, he didn't say it aloud: "You are the king, you should have a broad mind. Secretary Wei is old, why should you care about such things?"
"You're right," Li Tai paused here, "I heard that after Du Zhenglun was punished by the Emperor, he complained to his elder brother that his brother and a palace maid had been frivolous in their words and deeds."
My brother absolutely refuses to believe that such a thing could happen.
In my brother's mind, how could this be possible, since my elder brother is of upright character?
This must be Du Zhenglun fabricating something out of nothing.
This man seems quite treacherous, Your Majesty. You must be wary of him.
Upon hearing this, Li Chengqian looked at him and thought to himself that it really was true that good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels fast. He hadn't expected that this matter would reach Qingque's ears so quickly.
If I were to speak ill of Du Zhenglun now, Du Zhenglun might find out about it before tomorrow. If that happened, wouldn't Du Zhenglun hate me to the core?
Qingque, you're really something, playing tricks on your foolish brother and pretending to be a good guy here.
Thinking of this, Li Chengqian smiled slightly: "As the Left Vice Minister of the Crown Prince, it is normal for Du Zhenglun to report to the Emperor if he finds anything inappropriate in my words or deeds. If there is anything, correct it; if not, strive to do better."
His intentions are always good.
This was simply his duty, and there was nothing insincere about it. I actually think he's very upright, much better than those who like to gossip behind people's backs.
These words silenced Li Tai.
Li Tai was speechless.
After a long while, he chuckled twice and said, "Your Majesty is right."
I heard that my elder brother plans to plant grapes in the back garden of the Eastern Palace. When do you plan to plant them? I would like to participate. Is that alright?
Li Chengqian thought to himself, "What a clever Qingque! The moment you stick your butt out, I know what kind of shit you're going to take!"
You're not going to help me build a grape trellis, are you?
They clearly wanted to take this opportunity to spy on the situation in the Eastern Palace. If they found anything amiss, they would definitely go to the Emperor to complain immediately.
"Since you're willing to help, I'd be more than happy to oblige. However, you're about to establish a literary academy and compile the 'Kuodi Zhi' (a local gazetteer). Do you have the time?"
"Oh, those things, I can delegate them to my subordinates, it's no problem."
"Alright, I can't delay your important business."
"No delay, no delay. Your Majesty, then it's settled."
Li Tai left happily after saying this.
at night.
Zhongnan Mountain.
Li Chengqian arrived at an extremely secluded cave.
The entrance to this cave is small, only allowing one person to pass through at a time, and outsiders have no idea that there is a cave here.
But once inside the cave, the view suddenly opened up.
Dozens of torches illuminated the cave as if it were daytime, and in the middle was an open area with a flat surface.
"Greetings, Your Highness!"
Chengxin and the ten newly recruited warriors knelt on the ground.
"Get up, everyone."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
He was always at ease when it came to doing things his way, and sure enough, in just a few days, he recruited ten warriors.
Li Chengqian sized up the ten strong men and found that they were all tall and robust, but their faces were quite different from those of the people from the Central Plains: curly hair, hooked noses, blue eyes, and high cheekbones.
Li Chengqian was puzzled, thinking to himself, "Isn't this a Turk?"
Chengxin seemed to sense the Crown Prince's doubts: "They are all Turks. Please don't worry about it, Your Highness."
"We swear to serve Your Highness to the death."
They were indeed Turks.
In fact, Li Chengqian did not dislike the Turks very much; on the contrary, he had a certain fondness for their boldness, unrestrained and free-spirited nature.
This is good, as it makes the background simpler, and when carrying out special tasks, there's not much to worry about.
Li Chengqian became happy: "Bring the wine!"
This cave has everything you could want, including wine and meat.
Li Chengqian sat in the center, with ten Turkic warriors standing on either side.
Li Chengqian rewarded them with wine and meat, and they ate and drank heartily together, thoroughly enjoying themselves.
Normally, he was in the East Palace, a place with strict rules and regulations, which always made him feel constrained. But today, he could finally be himself.
As the wine flowed freely, Li Chengqian asked with a smile, "What unique skills do you all possess?"
One of the men, a large man with a topknot, named Tujishe, said, "Your Highness, I can break a large stone with my chest."
"Oh, what do you mean?"
Tuji took off his long coat, revealing his bare chest, and then lay flat on the ground, face up.
At this moment, four other strong men carried over a huge rock and placed it on his chest.
That boulder must weigh at least four or five hundred pounds.
Such a heavy stone pressing down on a person would surely cause an ordinary person to be crushed and bubbly.
Looking at Tsuchiya, he didn't feel anything at all, as if what was pressing on him wasn't a stone, but a blanket.
At this moment, Mujishe brought over a large iron hammer, which was indeed quite big.
Kijiki spat into his palm, rubbed it together, and asked Tsuchikiki, "Are you ready?"
"Ready."
Then, look at Muji, who raised the large iron hammer in his hand high and then slammed it down.
In my ears, I heard a loud "clang," and then I saw that the boulder had shattered into four pieces.
Tujishe stood up from the ground, dusted off the dust on his chest, and asked the prince to check.
Upon inspection, Li Chengqian found it to be completely intact.
"Excellent skill!" Li Chengqian gave a thumbs-up in praise. "Ten taels of silver as a reward."
Seeing how easily the money was made, Kijiro also wanted to show off his skills.
Li Chengqian nodded.
Mujishe first had Tujishe stand at the other end of the cave. Mujishe held a bow and arrow in his hand, about two hundred paces away, and aimed at Tujishe: "Your Highness, watch me shoot an arrow into his hair bun."
"Oh?" Li Chengqian was also surprised, because he had heard of Lü Bu shooting the halberd at the gate, but that was only 150 paces. He didn't expect this guy to challenge 200 paces. Would he miss the hair bun but hit the turban instead? "Are you confident you can hit it?"
Muji smiled and said, "Your Highness, please take a look!"
With a "whoosh," the arrow flew straight toward Tujishe. Tujishe was so frightened that he closed his eyes, thinking, "If you miss, I'll kill you!"
Just as Kiyoshi had said, the arrow struck Tsuchiyashi's hair bun perfectly.
"Truly a master archer! Here's some wine and ten taels of silver as a reward."
Seeing that the Crown Prince was happy, everyone cheered him on.
Suddenly, Chengxin said, "Since Your Highness is in such a good mood today, please allow me to dance for you."
"That's wonderful. It's been a long time since I've seen you dance."
But then I saw that Chengxin had changed into a white dress, with long sleeves fluttering in the wind.
It was the first time those strong men had ever seen Chengxin dance, and they were all very curious.
She swayed her waist contentedly and danced gracefully.
His figure was graceful, his steps were light, and his long sleeves swayed, just like a fairy from heaven.
Everyone was stunned, thinking that Chengxin was not a man at all, but a natural beauty.
A moment later, after the dance ended, Chengxin flicked her long sleeves, and the originally soft sleeves instantly turned into two iron rods that shot straight toward the cave wall. Immediately afterward, there was a loud "boom" and a large pit appeared on the wall, with some gravel falling to the ground.
Everyone was shocked, but at the same time, they were also very impressed.
"His robe sleeves are even more formidable than a giant iron hammer!"
Chengxin took back the long sleeves, and sure enough, there was nothing else besides the two long sleeves.
Li Chengqian was also shocked. He thought to himself, "These two long sleeves just now hit the cave wall. What would happen if they hit a person's head?"
However, though he was surprised, he remained calm on the surface: "Chengxin, you danced quite well. Here, I'll give you three cups of wine."