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

"Your Highness..." Zhang Nan watched His Highness the King of Chu enter the hall with his majestic steps. He suddenly felt inexplicably moved: "What are you doing?"

"According to the order of the Queen Mother and Sizi," His Royal Highness the King of Chu seemed to be answering Zhang Nan's words, but his eyes were always looking at His Majesty Li Er who was sitting silently in his seat: "February... No... King Chu is here to deliver the meal!"

"Put it here..." His Majesty Li II looked at the food box in Li Kuan's hand, and felt that the anger that had been boiling in his chest was silently retreating: "You didn't steal food this time?"

"What you said... I'm an adult already..." His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu had already come before His Majesty Li II. He then opened the food box and took out the food.

"You kid..." His Majesty Li II looked at the porcelain bowl that was obviously half full of mutton stew and couldn't help but laugh: "What did you just say?"

"Yes, I'm already an adult, so what's wrong with having a big appetite?" His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu said confidently, "Dad, we are not rich now, so we have to be diligent and frugal! Oh, by the way... I haven't tasted this white dragon soup (mandarin fish slice soup) yet. Come on, let me test the poison for you first."

"Wait a minute, kid..." His Majesty Li II saw that there were only four meat dishes in total, and another dish was Tangyu Xiuwan (meatball and vegetable soup). There was only one meatball left in the bowl, and the bright shrimp... Just by looking at the "perfect" presentation, he knew that three were missing this time...

As expected... My eldest son is still the same as before, afraid that he will have trouble digesting what he eats. Thinking of this, His Majesty Li II couldn't help but sigh: "I would rather be poisoned now than work on an empty stomach later."

“What are you talking about?!” His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu raised his chin upon hearing that. Then, before His Majesty Li II could pick up his chopsticks to stop him, he scooped up a piece of mandarin fish from the bowl: “Hmm… It seems that the imperial chefs are very afraid of death. It tastes pretty good!”

"When have I ever punished the cook for food that was not to my taste?" His Majesty Li II could see that His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu was quite active in discrediting him.

"Well, you said that, it has nothing to do with me." After saying that, His Royal Highness the King of Chu turned his head and glanced at Zhang Nan who was kneeling back down. "What are you still doing here? Come on! How does it look good with such a jet-black hair? Go out quickly and call a few people to come in and clean up the floor. Also, the wound on your head needs to be bandaged properly."

"Your Highness..." Zhang Nan couldn't help but bury his head even lower when he heard this: "I have offended Your Majesty, and I deserve to die!"

“Forget it.” Upon hearing this, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu waved his hands in disgust. “I have angered him so many times, shouldn’t I have died a thousand times? Besides, you are the chief eunuch of the palace—if you suddenly die, Lord Fang and the others will think it was me who did it!”

"Your Highness the King of Chu, what do you think?" His Majesty Li II had already picked up his bowl and chopsticks and began to slowly enjoy his dinner.

It seemed as if the previous anger did not exist at all for him.

"Xuanwu Gate, Xuanwu Gate!" Upon hearing this, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu looked at his father, the emperor, with a face full of indignation. "It's all your fault! Even Chang He's eyes are looking at me in a strange way. When I was riding back to the palace just now, he asked me three times if Heisha was taken out from your stable. I said no, but he refused to believe me. I was so angry that I almost beat him up."

"Black Evil?" Emperor Li II put down his chopsticks when he heard this, and a bad premonition suddenly arose in his heart.

"Ah... this... Father... Dad!" His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu then remembered the important matter: "Heisha is a Ferghana horse that I left with you before. It only knows how to eat all day. Now I plan to let it stay with me, as a reminder of Chang'an in the future."

"..." Without even thinking, His Majesty Li Er knew that the horse "Black Wind" that he had specially trained a few days ago had now become his son's mount: "You are good at taking advantage of others..."

“That’s not true…” Feeling a little guilty, His Royal Highness the King of Chu rubbed his nose and said, “Ma Zhou bought me some good horses in the Western Regions. I’ll give you ten horses later…”

"How can His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu be so generous?" His Majesty Li II had already picked up his bowl and chopsticks again. After picking up the only "Xiu Wan" in the bowl, he suddenly said to Zhang Nan who was still kneeling in the hall: "Get out! Don't spoil my mood for dinner!"

"Yes!" Zhang Nan, who had saved his life, naturally did not dare to say much. He immediately bowed again, then slowly and respectfully left the hall.

"It's not that I'm generous." His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu didn't care about what happened to Zhang Nan today. He just followed the topic that His Majesty Li Er had mentioned before and continued, "Heisha and I are destined to be together!"

"What kind of fate is this?" His Majesty Li II was actually quite curious about this matter.

"It's fate." His Royal Highness the King of Chu blinked his eyes upon hearing this, not intending to reveal the fact that Heisha had surrendered to him: "It's simply wonderful."

"Since you don't want to say more, I won't ask any more questions." Emperor Li II ate very quickly, and the Diaohu rice in his bowl was almost gone.

"Thank you for your understanding, father." His Royal Highness the King of Chu knew the implication of his father's words, so his answer seemed very serious: "Don't worry, when I go to the Western Regions, I will definitely defeat Si Yehu and Yi Bi Shekui so that they will bow down to our Tang Dynasty from now on!"

"Moheduo Khan submitted a memorial to me yesterday, saying that his son Yibi Shekui was deceived and acted disrespectfully towards me. Tell me, should I believe him?" Emperor Li II was looking at his son with a scrutinizing look in his eyes.

“Well…” His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu felt that this question was both easy and difficult to answer, because he was not sure whether His Majesty Li II knew that the Dou family was actually involved in this matter. After all, the two fools Si Yehu and Yi Bi Shekui were also betrayed by the King of Kang State under the order of Xie Minlin: “I think this question is not about whether you believe it or not, but whether you need to believe it.”

"What do you mean?" Emperor Li II pretended not to understand.

"As for the achievements in expanding the territory, you, as the emperor, don't need your son to tell you what to do, right?" Upon hearing this, His Royal Highness the King of Chu curled his lips and then began to despise a certain incompetent emperor for having too little ambition: "Think about the Qin Emperor and Han Emperor. You have to find a way to catch up with them!"

"I really didn't expect you to say such a thing to me." His Majesty Li II looked at his son who seemed to be as carefree as before. He couldn't help but sighed: "What about you, Kuan'er, don't you think about these things?"

"Yes, here we go again." Upon hearing what His Majesty Li II said, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu sighed helplessly, and then said, "Since you insist on asking the truth in order to be safe, then I will say it again: "After I leave Chang'an this time, I will never step into this place again in my life. The war in the Western Regions, in public, I am fighting for the people of the Tang Dynasty and the country. In private, I am just a son who is about to leave home and plans to give his father a great gift before leaving. I know you have always wanted to be enthroned, and I have promised to help you achieve this...

That's all I want to say." When His Royal Highness the King of Chu said this, he saw that his father had become silent again. He was too lazy to continue his long speech. He just quietly put away the leftovers on the table and finally left the Taiji Hall with the food box.

But on the way back, although the sky had cleared up, there were still no stars or moon.