Chinese dining table

Chapter 1285: It’s Really Cool in the Qingliang Palace

“The royal throne is actually made of snow, which cannot withstand the scorching sun. When the snow melts, it will turn into water and eventually become the same as the common people.

Not long ago, your father was an emperor who held the power of life and death over the world. Now, your father has become a butcher condemned by thousands of people, and everyone is craning their necks, waiting to be killed by me, the butcher.

I can't kill anymore, so I, your father, have also lost power.

You must be careful in the future. When killing someone, never give the order yourself. This practice is fatal to an emperor.

There are many emperors in history books who lost their kingdoms because of their cruelty and excessive killing. In fact, they lost not only their kingdoms but also their lives.

The question is, were they really so cruel? Did they really kill so many people? Did they really cut off the legs of old people and young people to identify the quality of their marrow?

It is certain that there are cruel people among them. Is it possible that there are not one or two innocent people, like me?

Everyone I killed deserved to die. It was not my intention to kill people for no reason.

Now, I have become a tyrant who is wanted by everyone.

I don’t accept it.”

Li Zhi stood on the Tingfeng Terrace, facing a pine tree that did not look that tall and straight and looked very much like the prince, and gave him earnest instructions.

The pine tree did not respond, so Li Zhi sighed and said, "You also admit that I am a tyrant, right? Yes, if I were not a tyrant, you would not have been able to ascend the throne so early. I understand this.

Thinking back to the time when the late emperor was seriously ill, I felt the same way as you. On the one hand, I was worried that the emperor would really leave, and on the other hand, I was worried that the emperor would suddenly recover. This feeling was really not a good one.

So, don't worry, I will still hand over the Tang Dynasty to you. Even if I know that you are among those who force me, I will not hurt you.

When my father left this world, the look in his eyes when he looked at me was very strange. There was some pity, some reluctance, some worry, and of course, the most was contempt.

I know what my father is thinking, so I won’t look at you like this before I close my eyes…”

Apart from the emperor, there was only a giant bear left on the Tingfeng Terrace. The chief eunuch Hechun was standing outside the terrace. Behind Hechun was a group of eunuchs from the Baiqisi wearing tall black hats and dark red cloaks.

As early as two years ago, after Zhang Donghai, the last non-eunuch governor of the Baiqi Division, was squeezed out of the Division, there was no real man left in the Division.

The brave man who followed Emperor Taizong to fight on the battlefield finally met his end.

The giant bear held the bamboo shoots in its arms, but did not eat them. It just stared at Li Zhi with its round eyes.

A gust of wind blew in from the mouth of the valley, causing waves of pine trees to surge, pulling Li Zhi back from his confusion. When he listened to the pine waves before, he just thought that it was the mountains flattering him as the emperor. Now, when he listened to the pine waves, he just felt that the sound of the pine trees was always mixed with bursts of ridicule.

His legs suddenly became weak, and just when he was about to fall down on the listening platform, the giant bear's head was placed under his back, allowing him to sit down decently.

Li Zhi grabbed his legs with his hands, then shouted at the mountains in a somewhat frustrated manner: "You have taken away my glory, and now you want to take away my body?"

He Chun saw it from a distance, and immediately ran to the emperor and said, "Someone, help His Majesty back to the palace."

Upon hearing this, Li Zhi turned his head sharply and looked at He Chun and said, "You betrayed me too?"

He Chun knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, please understand. I only want to do good for you. Please help your Majesty return to the palace."

Li Zhi was lifted up by a group of eunuchs. He looked down at He Chun and said, "You are dead."

He Chun smiled and said, "When your Majesty recovers, I will be willing to obey the law."

Li Zhi was silent for a moment and said, "You are no longer my subjects. Let the giant bear carry me back."

He Chun and Li Zhi stared at each other for a moment, but he was ultimately defeated and bowed, saying, "I obey your command."

Li Zhi sat on the giant bear's back. The bear, unaware of the treacherousness of the human world, was very happy. It carried Li Zhi while walking and turned back to ask for credit from Li Zhi.

Li Zhi gently stroked the giant bear's round ears and whispered to Hechun, "You belong to the Queen, so Ruichun should belong to the Prince, right?"

He Chun smiled and said, "No matter what, we servants are all your Majesty's people."

Li Zhi shook his head and said, "From now on, you are no longer my subjects.

However, I really can’t understand, since my being alive makes you so uncomfortable and brings endless troubles, why don’t you take the last path?
If you don't take that path, once Yunchu and Xue Rengui know that you treat me like this, you will die without a burial place."

He Chun shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, rest assured that Generals Yun and Xue will never know about this."

Li Zhi smiled and said, "I will tell them both."

Hechun sighed and said, "Your Majesty won't tell."

Li Zhi smiled even warmer and said to He Chun, "Tell me about it."

He Chun said: "Her Majesty the Queen said that the Tang Dynasty is more important to you than anything else. Now, it is just a power struggle between the Queen and the Crown Prince. No matter who wins or loses, the country will eventually fall into the hands of Li's son.

Once the two great generals Yun and Xue get involved, the world will be in chaos and the Tang Dynasty will be torn apart. This is definitely not the scene that Your Majesty wants to see."

Li Zhi nodded and said, "Yes, no one knows a man better than his wife. The ancients were right."

After saying this, Li Zhi didn't say another word. He let the giant bear carry him to the Qingliang Palace, let the eunuchs help him onto the bed, let the eunuchs take off his clothes, and also let them feed him water and food.

Just stopped talking and looked like a real patient.

Li Hong watched his father being sent to Qingliang Palace, and turned back to Ruichun and said, "I will definitely get my retribution in the future."

Ruichun knelt down and said, "This servant can only serve the prince until this time."

Li Hong was startled when he heard this, and then he reached out his hand, and saw Ruichun kneeling on the ground and slowly falling to the ground, a pool of bright red blood slowly flowing out from under him.

He was extremely cruel to himself. He inserted a sharp knife into his ribs and went straight to his heart, killing him instantly.

Li Hong's hands were shaking violently, and he wanted to touch Ruichun, but he finally withdrew his hands and walked into the Qingliang Palace step by step.

He knelt in front of Li Zhi's bed, held his father's cold hands and said, "I know I was wrong."

Li Zhi's eyes were fixed on the roof of Qingliang Palace. He said nothing and did not look at Li Hong. He was like a wooden man without any emotions.

Li Hong spoke to Li Zhi for a whole hour. Even he himself did not understand why he told his father everything about himself, including what he could and could not say.

Li Zhi seemed to have heard it, but also seemed not to have heard it. He did not make any judgment from beginning to end. He just turned his head towards Chang'an and stared at it.

Li Hong sighed and said, "Master is less than ten miles away from Jiucheng Palace. Tomorrow, Father will be able to see him."

After hearing what Li Hong said, Li Zhi slowly closed his eyes. In an instant, his breathing became slow and long, and he seemed to have fallen asleep.

Li Hong covered his father with a blanket and tiptoed to leave. He walked to the giant bear that was chewing bamboo and stopped, and said to Li Zhi on the bed: "Father, raise more bears and fewer sons in your next life."

A string of tears slid down from the corners of Li Zhi's eyes and finally dripped onto the pillow, and he could see nothing.

Not long after Li Hong left, the door of Qingliang Palace was opened again. Wu Mei, wearing court dress, walked into Qingliang Palace, stopped every step, came to the side of Li Zhi's bed, knelt on the bed stool and looked at Li Zhi's face carefully. After a while, she said, "Chi Nu, I'm here. It's been a long time since we last met. Do you miss me?"

Li Zhi slowly opened his eyes, glanced at Wu Mei, and then closed his eyes again.

Wu Mei whispered, "There is a hint of coldness in Chi Nu's eyes, but is he angry with me?"

Li Zhi didn't say anything, and didn't even show any expression.

Wu Mei continued, "Tomorrow morning, Yun Chu, Xue Rengui, and Pei Xingjian will come to see Your Majesty. If Your Majesty has any pain in your heart, just tell them. I will wait by Your Majesty's side and wait for your decision."

Li Zhi opened his eyes again, his eyes full of ridicule.

Wu Mei didn't seem to notice and continued, "It's not just them who are coming. Master Xuanzang and Sun Simiao will also come together. By that time, no one will be able to embarrass Your Majesty.

Your Majesty can decide who to kill with just one word."

Upon hearing this, Li Zhi suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Wu Mei and asked, "What are you going to do?"

Wu Mei chuckled and gently brushed Li Zhi's lips with her white fingertips and said, "Chi Nu is still impatient. I am just a woman, what can I do to these people?"

Li Zhi suddenly laughed and said, "That's right, you are just a woman, what can you do to them?"

Wu Mei smiled and said, "In fact, I have thought about burning down the Jiucheng Palace. From then on, my Li family will truly unify the country. If Zhinu agrees, I will go and arrange it right away."

Li Zhi laughed and said, "Not right. You only have the ability to plot, but not the ability to conquer and pacify the world. You will end up dying without a burial place."

Wu Mei smiled and said, "I don't quite believe it."

Li Zhi said: "You'd better believe it."

Wu Mei smiled and didn't answer. Instead, she waved her hand, and Nanny Chun came in with a food box. When she opened it, there was a bowl of white fungus and lotus seed soup inside. Wu Mei took it and stirred it with a spoon. The sound of the porcelain spoon and the porcelain bowl colliding was very pleasant.

"Your Majesty always has a bitter taste in his mouth after taking medicine. Drink a bowl of sweet porridge to relieve it."

After saying that, he scooped a spoonful and put it to Li Zhi's mouth, but Li Zhi closed his mouth tightly and refused to drink.

Wu Mei frowned and said, "There's no poison in this."

Li Zhi burst out laughing, turned around and said to Wu Mei, "Yun Qing once told me a story that is very similar to our current situation. Queen, do you want to know what the story is?"

Wu Mei shook her head and said, "Yun Chu's writing is brilliant, I can't guess."

The smile on Li Zhi's face quickly disappeared, and he said word by word, "It's a story about an adulterer and an adulteress who conspired to poison their husband. Before the adulteress gave her husband the poison, she said the exact words you just said."