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

"You are becoming more and more cunning." Emperor Li II looked at his son in front of him, his tone was mostly teasing: "Why, do you think that now that you are more mature, you can sing a different tune from your father?"

"Dad...what are you talking about..." Upon hearing this, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu was immediately displeased: "When you chased me around the palace before, I was never obedient..."

"Hmm..." His Majesty Li Er nodded after hearing this: "It turns out that your rebellious nature is innate."

"Dad, I think this person... should reflect on himself sometimes." There are some scapegoats that His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu will never take: "When I was with my grandmother, she always praised me for being sensible. Why is it that after I came to you..."

"Do you have to force me to take action before you can live in peace?" When Emperor Li II heard his son say such heartbreaking words, his face darkened on the spot: "You only know how to anger me all day long..."

"When I didn't know how to make you angry before, you never thought of wanting me." His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu suddenly blurted out these words after hearing this.

When Emperor Li II heard his son's words, he was stunned on the spot.

There followed a long silence between the father and son.

His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu, knowing that he had spoken out of turn, lowered his head, opened the wooden box and pretended to check his grandfather's collection.

“Kuan’er…” His Majesty Li II looked at his son in front of him. It was not until this moment that he realized that what happened back then… would always be a thorn in the child’s heart: “You can resent your father for this, but at that time your mother…”

"Dad, you're getting off topic!" His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu impatiently closed the wooden box, his tone full of indifference: "I just bumped into something. What happened in the past is in the past. What's the point of talking about it now? Besides, it was obviously you who started it...

Okay, Dad, let’s talk about something serious.

Now the Tubo, Tuyuhun, Xueyantuo and Tokharistan have been dealt with, but the two envoys from the Western Turks are still waiting for news at the Honglu Temple: they want to know who our Tang Dynasty plans to support this time - Siyehu or Yipishekui. "

"Kuan'er, how to reply to them is up to you." Seeing that his son did not want to talk about the past, Emperor Li II tried his best to pretend that nothing had happened: "We must fight against the Western Turks. As for how to fight, Dad plans to listen to your ideas first."

"What else can I think of? I will go to the Western Regions again when Tubo takes action." Li Kuan's answer was concise and to the point: "But this time, I have to bring cousins ​​Zhewei and Changsun with me. After all, if they don't go with me this time, they may have a hard time going to the battlefield in the future. But don't worry, I won't let anything happen to them."

"If my son can go to the battlefield, how precious can other people's sons be?!" There was some indescribable emotion in the eyes of Emperor Li II when he looked at his son.

"Dad, did I forget something?" His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu felt that he must have been very busy lately, so he made a mistake somewhere.

"You finally remembered Feng Ang." His Majesty Li II shook his head helplessly and said, "Do you know that if you don't go to see him, he will probably find a way to escape from Chang'an..."

"Ah... yes! Feng Ang!" His Royal Highness the King of Chu slapped his head suddenly: "How could I have forgotten this key chess piece..."

"Go meet him tomorrow." His Majesty Li Er seemed particularly tolerant of his son at this moment: "See what he says."

"Dad, what else can he say?" After hearing his father's words, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu curled his lips and said, "The Tang Dynasty has already started the game first. The fate of the Feng family as a chess piece is doomed to be unchangeable. He doesn't want to be exchanged? If he doesn't want to, we can exchange a chess piece! But the Feng family will be abandoned at that time and is destined to be swept off the chessboard!"

"..." His Majesty Li II looked at his son who was talking eloquently in front of him, just as if he was looking at himself who had talked eloquently in front of Li Yuan many years ago: "My son is really ambitious!"

"Dad, please stop trying to flatter me." His Royal Highness the King of Chu couldn't stand the strange contrast shown by his tyrant father at this time: "Is your son the kind of person who would fall for this?"

"You make sense." His Majesty Li Er nodded and said, "Then I will let Hong San..."

"Dad..." When His Royal Highness the King of Chu heard Hong San's name coming out of his father's mouth, he subconsciously began to dodge behind the palace pillars. This was almost a conditioned reflex: "We, the royal family father and son during the Zhenguan period, also have to abide by martial ethics..."

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His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu, who reminded his father to observe martial ethics, was eventually beaten and limped out of the Taiji Hall.

However, before he left, after thinking it over again and again, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu turned around and said to his father, "Dad... I really just said it casually before, please don't take it to heart, especially don't tell this to the Queen Mother, okay?"

"Kuan'er..." His Majesty Li II sighed silently after hearing this, and then slowly said: "Dad sent you back to your hometown in Longyou..."

"I understand." Li Kuan nodded and told a cruel fact: "At the beginning... until the night before launching the Xuanwu Gate, you were not sure that you could win the struggle, so you placed me in Longyou.

Although you did this in the name of fearing that your grandmother would be lonely, in reality... you were making plans for both sides..."

"Kuan'er..." At this moment, Emperor Li II was looking at his son in front of him, and he was completely shocked.

"Oh... forget it! I won't say anymore!" There are some things that His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu does not want to analyze so thoroughly: for example, the reason why his father did that in the first place was not just what he said - he should have also thought about using himself to win over the Empress Dowager.

All I can say is... sometimes people are too smart and see everything too clearly, which is not a good thing for themselves or others.

And most of the time, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu is unwilling to use his brain, which is much smarter than others, to think about things, and it is for this reason.

Only fools are not sad.

Only a fool...would not understand many truths as he grows older, and then suffer from inner torment.

For example...Without my grandmother, I would not be here today. (Note 1)

His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu's grandmother, the old lady who had been hiding behind the scenes during the turbulent times at the end of the Sui Dynasty but eventually stirred up the world.

This female Zhuge Liang, who was as capable as any hero, not only protected a poor child who was forced to be separated from his parents since birth, in her twilight years, but she also concealed another loving truth from the child until her death.

The truth is: even though the grandmother already knew the intention of her son to send her grandson, she still gave everything without regrets in the process of the grandparents and grandchildren relying on each other.

As for why.

Because even if he has experienced countless hardships and witnessed all kinds of conspiracies in his life, what in this world can stop an old man with not much time left from loving his young and well-behaved grandson from the bottom of his heart?

During the first few years of the Wude calendar, there were intrigues inside Chang'an City, and outside the city, various heroes bowed their heads before General Tiance.

At the same time, in that old house in Longyou that no one cared much about, the grandfather and grandson lived a peaceful life.

What no one knew was that from then on, Empress Taimu's favor for her grandson Li Kuan quietly surpassed all worldly intrigues.