nucmednet Chapter 873: I Walk Alone under the Starlight
Chapter 873: I Walk Alone under the Starlight
"Royal Grandfather..." His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu, whose eyes had long been red, was about to say something to the Royal Grandfather, but he noticed movement behind him. He had already guessed who the person was, so he suddenly put away his sadness and said in a frivolous tone, "That's enough. We don't need to be like this. By the way, do you want your grandson to burn paper money for you in the future, or just burn exquisite spring--"
"Ahem...ah..." Li Yuan knew that his grandson was smart, but he didn't want him to be that smart: "What are you talking about, little bastard! Ahem...well...I never taught him this..."
Li Yuan's final explanation was obviously meant for Empress Changsun.
But Empress Changsun had no time to care about these things at this time.
"Your Majesty." Empress Changsun, who knew that her son had been distant from her recently, looked at him deeply and then knelt down in front of her husband: "Your Majesty, I would like to ask for your forgiveness--"
"——Mother, I don't think I have done anything wrong." Although His Royal Highness the King of Chu was willing to be bound by family affection, as a real man, he needed to stand firm on some things: "This tyrant can find fault with me for anything, but he can't use the Goguryeo envoy as an excuse!
Yes, I am indeed an unforgivable criminal in the eyes of the Goguryeo people.
But they have no ability to stop me from leading my army into their palaces and making fun of their monarchs like ants!
Back then, the King of Goguryeo built a mausoleum with the bones of the former Sui soldiers. I have never forgotten their hatred!
But nowadays, some people seem to have forgotten all this hatred!
A mere subordinate sent by Goguryeo's Mozhili can slander me with his death; and my father intends to use this incident to suppress me. This is not a political conspiracy, it is an insult to me! "When His Royal Highness the King of Chu said this, he saw that His Majesty Li II, who was sitting on the dragon throne, was so angry that his hair and beard stood up. He suddenly felt that this was actually quite meaningless.
So he quietly shut up when he heard the warning from his grandfather.
At this moment, His Royal Highness the King of Chu had made up his mind that he would run away as far as possible and never suffer this humiliation again.
Then, there was another long silence in the imperial study.
Finally, it was the Emperor who spoke first to break the deadlock: "Erlang, do you think Kuan'er was wronged today?"
In fact, the subtext of Li Yuan's words is: Do you want to go down this path to the end?
After repeated consideration, His Majesty Li II finally decided to accept the concession from his father: "Father, this matter... is indeed something I have not considered enough..."
"Heh..." Upon hearing this, His Royal Highness the King of Chu suddenly sneered and asked, "Where is the historian?"
"Kuan'er..." Seeing her son's actions, Empress Changsun, who knew her husband's temper well, quickly said, "What happened today... is not appropriate..."
"—— Chu Suiliang! Get in here! Otherwise, I will expel you from my sect today!" ——Since the shackles in his heart had been broken, King Chu was not going to give face to anyone. While speaking, he quickly walked to Empress Changsun and helped her up, while still using the "King of Chu-style coercion" as always: "I will count to three! One, two!"
“Your Highness… Your Highness…” Chu Suiliang was a very “sensible” scholar. Just by hearing the tone of His Highness the King of Chu’s words, he knew that whether he could still get along in the court in the future depended entirely on his Highness’s mood. So at this moment, when he went to see the King of Chu, of course he crawled and rolled: “Your Highness… Your Highness is here…”
"Here you are." After seeing Chu Suiliang, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu immediately ignored the eye signal from his mother, Empress Zhangsun, and looked at his cheap senior brother with a smile: "Mr. Chu, I believe you don't want my Master Yu to be angry because of what happened today, right?"
"..." Chu Suiliang naturally remembered the scene where Yu Shinan used the Chaoxuan as a weapon and made him see stars: "May I ask what your Highness wants me to do?"
"Write, the Goguryeo envoy spread rumors that I have the dragon aspect, and after the incident, he falsely accused me of rebellion in prison, and then tried to frame me by committing suicide! Fortunately, your majesty is discerning, and this plot was eventually discovered. However, the Goguryeo envoy's actions must have been instructed by the Goguryeo envoy Quan Gaisuwen, so from today on, my Tang Dynasty will fight to the death with Goguryeo! What do you think, Lord Chu? "
This is probably one of the most cultured statements of His Majesty the King of Chu.
"I think..." Chu Suiliang looked up at Emperor Li II when he replied. He found that although the other party's eyes were full of surprise, the slightly pursed lips on his face... and the eyebrows that finally relaxed, did not seem to reveal any anger.
So Chu Suiliang had an answer in an instant: "I think what Your Highness said is reasonable and well-founded! The wolfish ambitions of Goguryeo are obvious. I——"
"Don't talk so much nonsense!" His Royal Highness the King of Chu was annoyed by this kind of smart guy who was annoying: "Remember, historians should write according to the facts, without changing a word!" (Note 1)
"I understand... I won't change a single word!" Chu Suiliang knew that the King of Chu was playing a joke, and this joke combined with the King of Chu's behavior today was truly full of black humor.
But...does he dare not take this opportunity?
"Your Highness, Prince of Chu, are you satisfied?" His Majesty Li II did not stop Li Kuan from handling the matter. In fact, he knew that this was the best way. But even so, in his heart, because of what happened today, he was still somewhat unwilling, and had some grudges against his son.
"Don't think I'm afraid of you." King Chu was now completely disheartened, so in front of his grandfather, his mother, and even Chu Suiliang, a minister in the court, he still said what he shouldn't have said, "From now on, you will run towards your goal of becoming the greatest emperor in history, and as your son, I will be confined to Qiongzhou for the rest of my life after helping you deal with those two fools from the Western Turks.
Don't worry, no matter how many imperial edicts you send to Qiongzhou in the future, I will not pay attention to you, Your Majesty, you'd better consider me dead! I will definitely consider myself dead, and no news will reach Chang'an to pollute your ears! It will ruin your heart!" His Royal Highness the King of Chu still couldn't hold back his anger, but he didn't think there was anything wrong with it.
Today is Yuanzheng.
Since his expedition to the northwest, he had almost never enjoyed such an auspicious festival in Chang'an where friends and family gathered together to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year.
No matter how strong the snow and wind were in Mobei, he felt warm inside when he knew that there were people in Chang'an who cared about his Highness the Prince of Chu. But now that he was in Chang'an, his Highness the Prince of Chu felt his heart was frozen.
So why should he always consider the overall situation?
The world is vast, and no matter how big Chang'an is, to him it is just a small place.
With this thought in mind, His Royal Highness the King of Chu didn't care what other people thought. He turned around and walked out of the imperial study.
And the sky gradually darkened at this moment.
Ignoring the ministers who saluted him, His Royal Highness the King of Chu looked at his eldest brother. The two brothers raised their eyebrows and smiled. Everything was said without saying a word.
Then, His Royal Highness the King of Chu walked directly out of the square.
His Highness the King of Chu was walking alone on the imperial road. Although the road was paved with starlight, his footsteps suddenly stopped at a certain moment.
Is it wrong?
Is that right?
His Royal Highness the King of Chu had no answer. He looked up at the night sky above his head, where the stars were shining brightly.
"Why think about these things? You are just worrying about nothing, worrying about nothing..." After a long time, His Royal Highness the King of Chu lowered his head and chuckled. He felt that such questions were actually meaningless. He might as well go back and hold the cute little Sizi in his arms to enjoy the fireworks.
However, His Royal Highness the King of Chu, who was on his way again, naturally could not see the 108 districts in Chang'an and the 360 states outside the tall palace walls. The Tang Dynasty, which had been smouldering with the smell of fireworks for a whole year, was filled with the faint light of every household, which gathered together to create a brilliant world...