Living leisurely in Tang Dynasty

Chapter 117:

Lady Liu was informed that Prince Teng is asking for medication and got worried that her precious son is hurt. Although Yuanying always had servants following and taking care of him, medication is still always prepared in case he needs it.

Seeing mother with a worried expression, the boy loudly assured her that he is fine. He will even shamelessly strip to prove that there’s no wound whatsoever!

Of course mother wouldn’t want that. If Yuanying says he’s fine then so be it. Since the medicines were for his teachers, Lady Liu personally helped make preparations. The next morning little medicinal bottles were arranged accordingly.

Yuanying then went visiting his teachers, with the first one being Wei Zheng.

“I heard that you knelt for the whole day, it must be hard work. Seriously how old is my brother, how can he leave for a trip on a whim!”

Wei Zheng has the impression that when Yuanying was punished by the Emperor previously, it was all because of his mouth. Just look at this boy enjoying all the drama! On his lips he says that he is here to send medication but in actual fact he is here to enjoy the commotion!

Wei Zheng decided to ignore him and Li Yuanying had no choice but to forcefully stuff the medicine to him and leave to look for Kong Yingda.

“This medication really works, I’ve been using this since young. Every time I had a slip or got hurt I would apply this and be fully recovered by the next morning! Here’s my suggestion, since you and Dr. Ma have weak bodies, you should take better care of yourself. Don’t think that kneeling 1 night  is nothing, what if you really got hurt? Please take this medication home and use it! If there’s such an incident again in the future, I think you should pretend to faint earlier. I heard that Duke Er fainted super fast this time!”

Kong Yingda initially thought that the boy was sending medicine due to his caring-ness to his teachers but after hearing the boy blabber on, he wanted to hit him instead. You are an ImperialPprince, why are you always falling down? It is all because you are a naughty mischievous boy! Moreover, what you are asking us to do is to fool the Emperor. If so wouldn’t others accuse us of faking it?!

Yuanying continued on his good deeds and visited  Zhangsun Wuji and gave a similar rant to him saying that Old man Kong and Wei did not appreciate his kind gesture and wanted to scold him. Luckily he left quickly!

Zhangsun Wuji had a fair and chubby stature. People says that nephew and uncle look alike, maybe Li Tai took his look after him? He took the medicine from the young prince with a smile and even asked if he had met with any difficulty in school.

“Nope, all is good and fun! The teachers are really knowledgeable and the students great too. We have almost finished learning about the Five Classics and I plan to be a volunteer with my friends next year to serve the community. If you need help on matters related to calculations, just let us know as we are willing to do anything! To write well one cannot wait for ideas to fall from the sky, we need to go out and experience them so that our articles are written to be meaningful.”

Zhangsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling are both senior leaders in court. After obtaining an okay from Zhangsun Wuiji, he continued on to deliver medicine to Fang Xuanling to show his courtesy and to ask for internship positions.

Fang Xuanling currently has complicated feelings about Li Yuanying. His son is now on his way to Tibet so it is impossible that he has a good impression about him. However,  which father doesn’t want his son to become a useful person? This time Fang Jun is going as part of the Royal envoy and will be treated well wherever he went with zero threat of danger so it is good practical training for him.

Therefore Fang Xuanling doesn’t dislikes Li Yuanying. Unlike Zhangsun Wuji who instantly laugh and answered, Fang thought for a moment before nodding.  “If necessary, I will discuss it with Minister Kong.”

Yuanying was overjoyed and praised him for being a good person before leaving.

While Yuanying was busy showing his hospitality to important officials, Zhangsun Wuji sat quietly with the medicine and decided to pay the Emperor a visit.

Li Er was thinking about Dang Renhong when he was notified that he had a visitor. He thought that Zhangsun Wuji is here to persuade him some more. Although he was reluctant he still did invite him in.

But Zhangsun Wuji came because of Li Yuanying. Originally, few took Li Yuanying seriously. After all, this boy is notorious as a little devil. If his Majesty wanted to use him as a symbol of peace and harmony within the royal family, his ministers will all just tacitly watch His Majesty indulge his younger brother.

But the boy suddenly became enlightened in the last two years. Not only did he become diligent and studious, he also made many friends. Everyone loved the books he has written and those in the scholarly community praised his library and cheap paper; even secretly calling it “Prince Teng’s paper”.

The turmoil at the beginning of the year did not arise without wind. What Prince Teng has done in the past two years is worthy of vigilance. If “Prince Teng’s Paper” becomes more common, scholars will all think about Prince Teng’s kindness whenever they uses paper. By then it will be too late to regret!

Even more scary is when the Emperor who publicly loved his son Li Tai chooses his younger brother over his beloved son when he had to pick sides! Not only did the Emperor take no precautions, he even placed his brother into the Imperial College, a place tasked with identifying future talents for the country, allowing him to freely make friends!

And now, he delivers medicine to win over courtiers.

Putting all these incidences together, are they not worthy of attention? With Li Tai as an example, Zhangsun Wuji felt that he needed to be the villain. He sat down and placed the medicine he got on the table and told the Emperor how he got it.

His Majesty stared at Zhangsun Wuji, waiting for him to continue.

He hurriedly told His Majesty that Li Yuanying sent him medicine and asked for internships. Then he stopped talking.

Li Er looked calm and did not answer.

Zhangsun Wuji did not hold back and continued: “Your Majesty, to indulge a son is to kill a son. Although His Highness Prince Teng is not your biological child, you are like a father figure to him. You cannot be too lenient on him causing him to have thoughts that he shouldn’t have.”

Although Chengqian is Zhangsun Wuji’s nephew, Li Er is still in his prime so he couldn’t side Chengqian in advance. This is also why no one pointed out the Emperor’s favoritism towards Li Tai. His Majesty obviously has many more years to live, who knows if Chengqian can remain firmly as the Crown prince?

But Li Yuanying was different as he is not the Emperor’s son. Allowing him to develop power will only lead to turmoil in the Tang Empire.

His Majesty leaned on the bench listening to Zhangsun Wuji with an unpredictable expression. His hands were already stained with his brother’s blood so he naturally didn’t believe in real brotherhood. As for Li Yuanying, he has his own opinions and if he was suspicious, Li Tai’s action would have suffice and there is no need for anyone else to remind him.

“I don’t know if  my brother have bad intentions but I do know that my officials like Kong Yingda and the others cannot be bought over with a jar of medicine. Look, you took his medicine then came here. Are the rest of my men fools?”  

His Majesty requested that Zhangsun Wuji be calm. If Wei Zheng and the others were stupid enough to support that as*hole brother of his, they should just wait and see. Who knows what nonsensical stuff might happen?

Zhangsun Wuji didn’t dare to reply that before his late sister married into the Li family, he has already heard all kinds of ridiculous rumors about the second son of the Li family. Not only was he proficient in eating, drinking and having fun but he love cockfighting. How dare he say so about another person now?

To add on, even after Li Er became the Emperor he still did many ridiculous things like marrying his brother’s wife, or executing another person for winning against him in a chess match or drawing his sword in court against Wei Zheng when he couldn’t win over him in an argument.

Zhangsun Wuji understood suddenly why his Majesty likes this younger brother so much. Maybe it’s because he’s as ridiculous and outrageous as his older brother in his youth!

Since the Emperor already told him to remain calm, Zhangsun Wuji could only reply that “he was the villain in vain.”

Li Er didn’t continue on the topic  but instead share the edict that he had written himself. The Emperor is adamant in saving Dang Renhong. Since he couldn’t travel South, he will issue an edict saying that it’s his fault for not choosing the right person for the role as long as he could spare Dang Renhong’s death penalty no matter what.

Now that Zhangsun Wuji understands the Emperor’s bottom line, things are  easy to handle. He immediately persuaded the others to compromise on this matter. In the end, everyone took a step back; the Emperor did not travel South, the justice department no longer ask for the death of Dang Renhong, everyone celebrated the new year in peace and contentment.

Li Yuanying doesn’t know Dang Renhong personally and only heard that he was  dismissed from his ranks and was demoted to just a commoner. He was touched and ran to make a request to His Majesty: “Brother, you are generous. If someone tells you to kill me, you have to protect me in this way too.”

Li Er became angry and cursed on the spot: “If you don’t commit any crime, who would ask me to cut your head off?”

“It’s easy to find fault, easily I can name 8 or 10 offenses at any time! It is written that If you want to find fault with someone, there is no need to worry about making a suitable pretext. At that time, you must at least protect me and make me into a commoner like Dang Renhong!”

“Dang Renhong has made great achievements during war and battle, what have you done?”

Li Yuanying became a little worried. He sat down and pondered then sighed: “I don’t want to lead troops into battle. I don’t know how to fight.”

Li Er saw that his brother was really thinking hard about it and said happily: “So you’d better make up your own mind.”

Yuanying felt that his brother had no brotherhood love at all. He immediately ignored him and ran away.

His Majesty was planning to visit Lishan Palace to celebrate his birthday and included Li Yuanying as part of the group to visit the hot springs with him. Li Yuanying lost his temper and said angrily that he’s not going. He will study hard and score first place in the exam next year. He will find a way out for himself!

Will His Majesty go down to the boy’s level and argue with him? Of course!

On the day of the trip, Li Er ask his men to forcefully drag Li Yuanying into the carriage towards Lishan Palace.

Everyone who say the commotion decided to pretend that they didn’t see anything.

Notes from the Author:

His Majesty Li Er: Li San Sui (meaning Li who is 3 years old!)

Little Prince: You’re the Li San Sui (pointing and grumbling)