Traveling through the Gaowu Tang Dynasty, Li Kuan and Li Shimin became the second sons of the Prince

"Dad, please stop testing me! I am truly a wise king!" His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu now only wants to see his lovely sister.

"What do you mean by testing?" His Majesty Li II, who automatically ignored the word "virtuous king" in someone's mouth, frowned slightly at this moment: "Don't you like to have retainers?"

“The problem is that except for Qibi Heli and others, my son took the initiative to subdue them due to the battlefield situation at that time. The rest, such as Wang Xuance and Jiang Sheng, were left to my son by my grandmother. Therefore, my son should cherish their loyalty. It has nothing to do with whether he likes to have retainers or not.” His Royal Highness the King of Chu felt that some incompetent monarchs were trying to misunderstand his original intention.

"Then you don't want the retainer your aunt left for you?" After hearing Li Kuan's answer, Emperor Li II said with a half-smile: "Son... you really make your father feel strange..."

"Hmph..." Upon hearing this, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu glanced at his father who was acting weird, and then said, "Strange, right? Didn't expect a bad family to produce good bamboo shoots?! Hmph, to be honest, what kind of retainer would let me personally rush to collect them? They are willing to come, but I still have to think about it carefully. Although their words sound nice, they will stand up to defend their son when he is in danger. But at the beginning, they were not even willing to obey my aunt's will and accept me as the head of the family. Who knows where they went later? When I am really in danger, will they be in time to rescue me?!"

"That may not be the case," His Majesty Li II said without comment, "But you really don't plan to take these people in?"

"Alas, in this life, it is best to be content with what you have, Dad~~" - His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu knows his father too well. This incompetent monarch will definitely not be so easy to deal with, so there must be something bad going on here.

"You must take those people in." - As expected, when Emperor Li II heard that his son was not fooled, he immediately said, "Otherwise, if they join another family, it will be troublesome."

"Dad, are you talking about the Five Surnames and Seven Families?" Li Kuan frowned and said, "They don't have that much courage..."

"If you dare not do it openly, who can tell what is going on in secret?" Upon hearing this, Emperor Li II sneered: "Wu Ji went to Shandong to raise grain... 90,000 shi... ha... 90,000 shi!" - This incident had become a thorn in Emperor Li II's heart.

"Dad, I don't think Uncle Wuji is a good guy." Seeing his father bringing up the old matter again, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu certainly would not give up this great opportunity to please his father.

"Don't make false accusations, or your mother will hit you with a feather duster!" Emperor Li II discovered that his eldest son was very clear about gratitude and resentment.

Of course, it was indeed retribution for Changsun Wuji to have such a vengeful nephew in his life...

"Dad, let's get back to business." His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu knew that making a false accusation was a very patient and time-consuming process, so he was not in a hurry. Seeing that his father was unhappy, he took the initiative to change the subject: "How about... I will give all these people to my eldest brother later?"

"Why, do you think that it is not enough for you to become more powerful, and you are planning to recruit talents and accept advice for your elder brother?" His Majesty Li II narrowed his eyes when he heard this.

"Wow...you are such a tyrant..." Hearing his father say this, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu suddenly felt that he had suffered a great injustice: "Is that what I mean? I think that Big Brother doesn't have any capable people around him now..."

"Before you ascend the throne to become emperor, you just need to watch and listen more, be careful in what you say and do, and you don't need to worry about your elder brother." Emperor Li II sometimes felt powerless facing such a hot-headed son.

"My elder brother is so miserable." His Royal Highness the King of Chu felt that his original choice was really wise: "Alas... It seems that I have to protect him more in the future."

"Then Your Highness the Prince of Chu, do you need me to turn around and pass on a message for you?" At some point, one of His Majesty Li II's hands was already stroking the belt around his waist.

"That's not necessary!" His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu had a good look and an even better attitude: "Dad, since Big Brother can't take those people in, then I will take on this heavy responsibility! But I have to say it in advance, I definitely don't know where those people are, I will go back and ask Uncle Dou and see what he says."

"I'm glad you have the intention." After saying this, His Majesty Li Er realized that the boy had already started looking towards the door, and immediately said unhappily, "Why, do you really want to run away?"

"I miss Xiao Sizi!" After being away from home for many days, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu missed his sister so much that every day was like a year.

"One last thing." His Majesty Li II knew that the brat couldn't stay any longer, but he still had to finish his words: "If you need to mobilize troops in the future, it's best to only mobilize the 1,000 Black Armored Soldiers I gave you, especially in Chang'an. Do you understand?"

"Ah?" His Highness the Prince of Chu found that he could no longer keep up with his father's pace: "Why? No... Why?!" - Feeling that his troops were humiliated, His Highness the Prince of Chu was no longer afraid: "My troops are no worse than the Black Armor Army!"

"Then let's prepare our troops and go outside the city to practice?" His Majesty Li Er found that this unfortunate child couldn't hear good or bad words at all: "Last time you let Yuwen Qing and your troops parade through the city, you are really afraid that others don't know that your Highness the Prince of Chu is powerful, right?!"

"Ah...ah...it was just one time..." Upon hearing this, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu immediately said with anticipation, "Besides, I didn't know anything about it at the time..."

"The most fatal thing is that you are not aware of the situation! Besides, there was the incident with Yuan Tiangang last time." His Majesty Li II felt that his patience was almost exhausted: "You scattered the people on the official road outside Chang'an, and kidnapped any monks you saw. Those who knew would think that His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu was avenging his retainers, while those who didn't would think that there were bandits outside Chang'an!"

"..." Faced with such a well-reasoned and well-mannered father, the usually eloquent Prince Chu could only be speechless at this moment.

"So you know what to do?" After venting his anger, Emperor Li II saw that his son had calmed down, so he waved his hand and said, "If you know, get out of here! Also, don't say that Dad didn't remind you. Sizi has been unable to eat recently because she misses you. She keeps talking about you, her second brother, bringing her gifts in her dreams. You can do whatever you want!"

"Hey... son, I understand!" His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu rubbed his nose when he heard that, then turned around, pushed open the palace door, and walked towards the direction of Ganlu Palace.

Watching his son's departing back, Emperor Li II stood there with his hands behind his back, silent.

After a long time.

"Come out." Emperor Li II suddenly turned his head and looked behind the screen.

"Father..." - At this time, Crown Prince Li Chengqian walked out from behind the screen.

The father and son looked at each other, and then both felt a little embarrassed.

"It seems that I am indeed a lowly person in vain... You two brothers are really... Alas!" His Majesty Li Er said, smiling bitterly and shaking his head: "I didn't expect that you two brothers really opened my eyes..."

One of them hurried over to plead for mercy before his brother came back.

A retainer who had decided to sell out his aunt before he even met his eldest brother.

These two brothers... really have a strange tacit understanding...

I hope you two brothers won't repeat my mistakes...

With this thought in mind, Emperor Li II came to the imperial desk, looked at the map of Goguryeo spread out on it, and began to ponder with his lips pursed. He did not say a word for a long time...