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

After Yao Ji left the hall, the old Taoist priest took out a porcelain bottle from his arms and handed it to Li Kuan. "Old Crane brought back four red fruits from the depths of Zhongnan Mountain. I used these red fruits as the main ingredients and combined them with other rare spiritual medicines to refine five spiritual pills. Taking them can cure all kinds of poisons and prolong life. Your Highness, keep them carefully. They may come in handy in the future."

“Old Heavenly Master…” His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu took the porcelain bottle from the other party, carefully removed the cork, and poured out a pill, observing it in his palm: “This is so black… Old Heavenly Master, your craftsmanship is not good enough…”

“You kid…” The old Taoist couldn’t help but laugh when he heard this: “Who told you that a good-looking product is a good product? In this world, the only one who can use four red fruits to refine five top-grade precious pills is me!”

"Really? I don't believe it." After saying that, His Royal Highness the King of Chu hugged the old Taoist priest's neck and stuffed the pill in his hand into his mouth: "Open your mouth, test the poison!"

"..." The old Taoist priest was speechless upon hearing this. He knew that His Royal Highness the King of Chu hoped that he could live a few more years, but... he himself didn't care much about these things anymore.

A person’s life is one year, and plants and trees only have one spring; all is certain.

Why force it?

“Old Heavenly Master, can you take one…” His Royal Highness the King of Chu saw that the hard way didn’t work, so he could only try the soft way: “Anyway, there are still four left after eating, which is more than enough!”

"Your Highness, please listen to what I have to say first." Upon hearing this, the old Taoist priest held down the hand of His Highness the King of Chu holding the pill, and then slowly said, "Each of the five pills has a master. The one in your hand is for the little Princess Sizi."

"Ah...ah?" Upon hearing this, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu suddenly stopped what he was doing: "Si Zi she..."

"Princess Sizi was destined to have a catastrophe. Although Your Highness has amazing luck and has resolved most of the catastrophes for her, Princess Sizi's fate is too noble. Therefore, even if she has escaped death, she will probably get a serious illness in the future, and after the serious illness, she will be bedridden for the rest of her life..." The old Taoist priest said this, and then continued: "The other four pills are prepared for you, Zhenxuan, Yuan Tiangang, and Li Chunfeng. The four of you will also face a life-or-death test in the future, and this pill will come into play at that time."

“Old Heavenly Master…” Even if His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu was going to act recklessly, he didn’t dare to act on his temper. “How about this… You take this pill first, and later Yuan Tiangang and I will each take half a pill, and maybe we can get through this.”

“Your Highness, please listen to me.” The old Taoist priest knew that His Highness the King of Chu had obviously guessed something, so he no longer concealed it: “In fact, this moment… my end is really coming… Taoism and Buddhism both have the saying that ‘before death, there will be a connection between heaven and man’, but I am different. I truly sense that you may encounter big troubles in the future, and the Crane Elder obviously has the same premonition, so it tried its best to find four red fruits, and the reason why I refined this pill into five is also a little selfish of my minister - Your Highness, I know that you have not been happy for all these years…, and Prince Sizi The Lord may be the only pillar left in your heart, so I cannot let you lose it again..." The old Taoist priest said at the end, and suddenly smiled faintly: "Looking back now, I have been free for a hundred years. For me, rather than letting this old and sick body continue to linger, it is better to leave hope to the young descendants. Your Highness, one day, everyone will understand that you chose to suffer injustice so that at some point in the future, the entire Tang Dynasty will not have to suffer injustice. It's a pity... That day, many people now, such as Li Er, Zhang Sun, and the civil and military officials of the Zhenguan Dynasty, they will not be able to see it..."

“Old Heavenly Master…” Upon hearing this, His Royal Highness the King of Chu quietly suppressed the bitterness in his heart and pretended to be relaxed: “Those are… people who don’t believe in me, so if they can’t see it, then they can’t see it. What’s there to be sad about?”

"Yeah, there's nothing to regret." The old Taoist priest smiled upon hearing this, then patted the young patriarch on the shoulder and said, "In the future... you will have hard work."

"It's not about hardship or not..." His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu shook his head and said, "I must fulfill my grandmother's expectations, even if it means risking my life!"

"With such a master... we, the retainers of the Dou family, are really satisfied as never before..." The old Taoist priest looked at His Royal Highness the King of Chu, who had never changed his original intention, and felt a surge of pride in his heart: "By the way, Your Highness, regarding the taxation of Hebei Province... Dou Shilun asked me to tell you: the wealth seized from the Western Regions in the warehouse of Yushan Beiyuan is enough to offset seven years of taxes, not five years; don't let yourself suffer any loss."

"Dou Shu'er is still so...meticulous..." His Royal Highness the King of Chu scratched his head awkwardly when he heard this: "Then I'll go back and tell that foolish king."

"That's not necessary. Dou Shilun has already submitted a petition, and Li Er has also approved it." The old Taoist priest said this, and suddenly remembered something: "Also, Li Jing was planning to retire, but was persuaded by Xie Minlin - but he said that he would give you the military strategy "Six Military Mirror" that he was about to compile, saying that it would be completed in one or two years at most."

"Is that so..." His Royal Highness the King of Chu felt that he had to accept General Li Jing's kindness: "General Li Jing is so good to me... Well... Aunt Hongfu should like jewelry very much, right? I will turn around..."

"Hasn't Ma Zhou returned from the Western Regions with his horse trade? Your Highness should just send him a few more horses. The couple have similar hobbies." After saying this, the old Taoist priest suddenly sighed softly, "Your Highness, remember, regarding the elixir... no one should tell anyone before that day comes; and also... the effectiveness of this elixir depends on the strength of the person who takes it, so don't -"

"Old Heavenly Master, look, there's an assassin!"

"Ah?" The old Taoist priest responded subconsciously. Then, just as His Royal Highness the King of Chu was about to succeed, he stretched out his hand to block the attacking left hand of His Royal Highness the King of Chu: "You little bastard, have you forgotten what I am capable of?"

"Well, old Taoist priest... you forced me to do this..." - His Royal Highness the King of Chu, who failed in his sneak attack, simply got angry and said, "Anyway, I have plenty of strength and power..."

So... after a fierce fight, with the help of He Weng who was watching the fun from the side, His Royal Highness the King of Chu finally managed to get the elixir into the old Taoist's mouth after great effort.

But the old Taoist priest was obviously not someone who would give in so easily.

But... our Prince of Chu once again demonstrated what it means to "go away for a few years and still be a barbarian when you return" - he hugged the old Taoist priest's head and began to "shake" it for a while, until he was sure that the pill had been swallowed by the old Taoist priest, he stopped...

“……” The old Taoist priest is in an extremely complicated mood now.

“Hehe…” His Royal Highness Prince Chu also felt a little embarrassed: “Please… Old Heavenly Master… Please don’t look at me like that… I just feel that as a junior… I have received a lot of care from you, so I must be grateful and filial to you… Besides… As long as you are here, Zhenxuan will always have someone to rely on in his heart, so what’s wrong with that?”

"Alas..." The old Taoist priest looked at the young boy in front of him who was not even an adult yet. He knew that no matter how the future changed, some of the persistence in His Royal Highness the King of Chu's heart was destined to remain unchanged forever.

(The first day of the month is considered a break.)