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

"Okay, okay... just pretend I never said anything." After listening to the complaints of His Royal Highness the King of Chu, Yu Zan nodded with a smile: "But then again, your previous trip to the northwest really shocked me and Old Man Lai..."

"What's so shocking about this..." His Royal Highness the King of Chu scratched his head after hearing this: "I just went to the northwest to plow the land, captured two Khans, and went to Jinshan to offer sacrifices to the heavens... Come to think of it... If it weren't for that tyrant king who kept writing letters asking me to return to the court, and even went to capture me in person, I would definitely have been able to fight even further!"

"Young master, you are a real hero!" Yu Zan listened with a smile as His Royal Highness the King of Chu described his heroic deeds in vivid detail in front of him - this feeling was actually the same as when he heard how this child fought a vicious dog with his wits and wiped out the ant nest under the old tree in the south of the city.

Yu Zan had long felt that this child had a promising future.

"I'm not that heroic..." When His Royal Highness the King of Chu saw that Yu Zan gave him face in this way, he subconsciously began to restrain himself.

"Your Highness is preparing to attack Goguryeo?" Yu Zan recalled the news he had received from Dou Shilun, and couldn't help but feel a little proud: "Young master, if the old man knew that you had such ambitions, I'm afraid he would definitely not be able to sleep well on the bamboo bed in Longyou..."

"Why?" His Royal Highness the King of Chu scratched his head and said, "What is the connection between the two?"

"I just said it casually." Yu Zan thought for a moment and then said, "I went to see Gao Shilian today."

"Ah? Why do you want to see him?" His Royal Highness Prince Chu has always been dissatisfied with his adopted uncle, but for his mother's sake, he did not intend to argue with him: "Butler Yu, you didn't quarrel with him, did you?"

“I dare not, I dare not…” Yu Zan smiled and shook his head: How dare Gao Shilian?

"You don't have to destroy your own prestige and boost others' ambitions..." The Prince of Chu, who didn't know the truth, thought that the old butler had been wronged in the Duke of Shen's mansion: "Why, Gao Shilian is giving you a bad face? That won't do! Butler Yu, I will definitely seek justice for you!"

"Young master, things are not what you think." Yu Zan saw that His Royal Highness the King of Chu was angry and seemed to be planning to help him put Gao Shilian in the sack, so he could only tell the truth: "I went to the Duke of Shen's mansion to teach Gao Shilian to be a smart man."

"Ah?!" His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu's eyes widened upon hearing this: "So you're here to bully others?!"

As expected, this king knew it!

Butler Yu even cheated me of my child’s snacks, how could he be afraid of a mere Gao Shilian!

"What you said in the Taiji Hall a few days ago really touched my heart..." Yu Zan did not directly answer the question of His Royal Highness the King of Chu, but instead brought up another matter: "Young Master, are you really planning not to fight for that position?"

"Don't argue." His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu felt that there was really no need to discuss this matter: "My eldest brother has had a hard time too..."

"I don't see how it's difficult for him." Apart from his deep affection for Li Kuan, Yu Zan seemed to have no experience with other people.

"So you came to Chang'an just for this?" His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu frowned when he heard this: "Calculate the date... This doesn't make sense... Did you receive the news so quickly?"

"I came to Chang'an just to cook a bowl of noodles for you." Seeing His Royal Highness the King of Chu raised a question, Yu Zan smiled and pointed to the empty bowl on the table: "Let's count the days. Your birthday is in three days. I came here just to celebrate your birthday in advance. After all, either I was busy before, or you were not in Chang'an, and we missed each other many times. It's a pity to say it." After Yu Zan finished speaking, he took out an exquisite dagger with a hilt and scabbard inlaid with sapphires from his arms and handed it to Li Kuan: "This is a gift from Lai Lao'er and I to you. Keep it well, young master, and in the future... it will be a thought..."

“Butler Yu…” It’s not like His Royal Highness the King of Chu has never seen good things before, but when this dagger fell into his hand, he felt that the dagger was extremely heavy: “Don’t worry, I will treasure it well! Well… after I die, it will be my burial object!”

“You don’t have to think so far…” Yu Zan sometimes couldn’t understand: How could the old master, who was so serious and stern, raise such a… miraculous grandson like His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu…

Hmm... maybe His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu is the real grandson...

"Butler Yu, there's something wrong with your eyes..." His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu sometimes hated his own amazing intuition: "I feel like you must be secretly plotting against me..."

“Nothing like that…” Yu Zan smiled and waved his hands when he heard that: “I just feel that… since the old patriarch left… your life has been extremely difficult…”

“That’s not the case,” His Royal Highness the King of Chu shook his head to deny what Yu Zan said, and then told the truth: “It was only in the first two years that I didn’t know that my royal grandfather could cure my father, so I suffered a little. Now… I’m not bragging, if that tyrant dares to really beat me up, my royal grandfather will definitely not let him off!”

"So the young master's days in the palace... are extremely wonderful?" Yu Zan actually knew everything about the things that His Royal Highness the King of Chu had experienced over the years, but seeing that the other party was so excited, he still couldn't bear to let him down.

"It's just so-so..." His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu thought for a moment and decided that he should be conservative. "Without Li Chengzong and his gang playing villains in my daily life, I have less fun. As for Li Yuanchang... when my father was the Prince of Qin, he was indeed qualified for me to take action. But after my father became the emperor, his fawning face made me feel sick..."

"But Li Yuanchang is only trying to protect himself." After hearing what His Royal Highness the King of Chu said, Yu Zan suddenly said, "Young Master, if you don't like to compromise... then... have you ever thought... that one day in the future you will be like Li Yuanchang, helpless?"

“Hey, hey, hey…” His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu was such a smart man that he immediately realized something was wrong when Yu Zan said this: “Butler Yu… that’s too much…”

"I just can't help but prepare for a rainy day." Seeing His Royal Highness the King of Chu's reaction, Yu Zan smiled bitterly and said, "I, Yu Zan, have no children in my life. At this age, wealth and glory are nothing but illusions in my dreams. It's just... my life was saved by the old patriarch, so today I have to say something even if I know the young patriarch doesn't like it. Otherwise, how can I, Yu Zan, face the old patriarch in the afterlife? Indeed, the final choice is still yours. We, as retainers, should follow.

But I still hope you can look at the problem more comprehensively: people will change, and the more people stand at the center of power and wealth, the faster they will change, and the greater the changes they will produce! Young master, the old master once said something that I still remember vividly - she said: 'The real nobility is freedom of body and mind. 'Yes, freedom is nobility, and nobility is freedom. But the connection between the two... the more you think about it, the more horrifying it becomes - the cage of the secular world, the shackles of power, no one can break free, no one can break through..." Yu Zan couldn't help shaking his head and smiling bitterly at the end, saying: "I have been decisive in killing all my life, but I hesitated for a long time on this matter. Fortunately, today, I still said these words. Young master, if you want to punish me, Yu Zan will accept it!"

“Butler Yu, what are you talking about… How can this prince really not know what is good for him…” - His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu was silent for a long while after hearing this, and then he slowly said: “This prince knows what you mean, but this prince also asks you to believe me, it’s not that I haven’t thought about some things, but how to make the final decision, now is not the best time…” His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu saw that Yu Zan was expressing his true feelings to him, so he naturally couldn’t let the old man down: “No matter what, for any servant of the Dou family, if he has no fault, this prince promises that he will make sure that he has a good beginning and a good end in this life…”

But the most important thing right now is to fight Goguryeo!