Chapter 359 Tiger’s Mouth
In the third year of Wude, Duke Xi died before the end of the first month of the year.

Not only in Chang'an and Luoyang, when the title of Duke of Xi was mentioned, everyone was a little confused. Was it the meritorious official or nobleman? Or was it a royal relative?
Oh, it turned out to be the Former Yan Emperor Murong Chang. Then he is dead. So he is dead.

Everyone in the court knew that it was only a matter of time before Duke Xi died of illness. Even if he could live until the third year of Wude, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty was very tolerant.

Considering what Murong Chang did when Li Yuan personally led the expedition to Luoyang, no one would be surprised by this result.

That was the eldest son, the son that Li Yuan valued the most. He had very good relationships with the Guanlong nobles and the Shandong nobles. If he had not died in the palace coup, even if his brothers were famous for their martial arts, the position of crown prince would not have been passed to anyone else.

Therefore, Li Yuan was very restrained as he was able to endure the first and second years of Wude.

After the news reached the palace, since he was the emperor of the previous dynasty, Li Yuan asked the chief of the imperial clan, Li Zhu, to preside over the funeral ceremonies, and also asked the prince, Prince of Chu, Li Zhiji, to go and pay his respects.

After all, they are father-in-law and son-in-law in name only.

At the same time, Li Yuan began to think about finding a new husband for his daughter. As for his grandson who was only two years old, it didn't matter. He could wait until he grew up and was obedient and keep him alive. If he was restless, someone would take care of him sooner or later.

Chang'an City, with the Tang Dynasty successfully capturing Jinyang, became more and more stable. The entire Tang Dynasty was currently thriving.

Emperor Li Yuan lived a relatively comfortable life. After returning to Chang'an, a group of ministers asked him to appoint a crown prince.

This is the thing Li Yuan is most reluctant to face at the moment.

But unfortunately, there were still many ministers who submitted memorials, and he did not reprimand or admonish them at will.

Because all the ministers who submitted memorials were civil officials with considerable reputation among the literati.

For example, Xue Boqiu, who served as the chief academic officer of the Imperial College, was a great scholar from the Xue family of Hedong. He was rigorous in his academic research and had a very high reputation.

Yang Wan, the Minister of Rites, was from the Hongnong Yang family. He was quick-witted and famous for his articles.

Su Shichang, Li Yuan's childhood friend and classmate, was a member of the Su family with great fame in martial arts and served as the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Menxia Province.

There are many such stories, and these people all advised Li Yuan to establish a crown prince and consolidate the foundation of the country from the perspective of etiquette and law.

So all Li Yuan could do was delay and put it on hold.

After all, it's reasonable and well-founded and cannot be refuted.

After Li Dalang died, Li Erlang became the de facto eldest son, and the order of seniority was in accordance with etiquette. Scholars and Confucian disciples attached the most importance to etiquette.

In terms of achievements, Li Er was respected by everyone among all the sons. Even his two brothers who could compete with him for the throne were his supporters.

Of course, there was another factor that made these prestigious scholars support Li Er. In addition to his outstanding military achievements and powerful military force, Li Er also had another factor, which was his closeness to scholars.

After being named King of Qin, Li Er established the Academy of Literature to recruit scholars, and often convened scholars to discuss literature and national affairs.

These scholars naturally have their own personal connections, which will spread out and influence the ministers in the court.

That is why there were so many famous scholars and officials in the court supporting Li Erlang.

But Li Yuan still had that concern, so after returning to Chang'an to celebrate the New Year, he was afraid that Li Sanlang would again take the lead in persuading the establishment of a crown prince, so he sent the third son to Jingzhou to pacify the army.

He didn't do much to treat Li Er, but just ordered him to stay at home and recuperate.

He used the matter of his injury to fend off those who advised him to appoint a crown prince, thus forming a closed loop.

But all these made Li Erlang feel depressed. He was not the type to sit idle. If he didn't go out for riding and hunting for two days, he would be back home early after three days.

Because of the injury this time, after returning to Chang'an from Bingzhou, he stayed at home to "recuperate" until after the New Year.

After the New Year, the weather gradually warmed up, and Li Er finally couldn't wait any longer, so he took a group of guards out of the city to hunt. On the one hand, he couldn't sit still and wanted to go out and get some fresh air.

Secondly, it was also a resistance to Li Yuan, saying that I was already well again and shouldn't use the excuse of recuperation to fool people.

After Li Er went out hunting, Li Yuan was helpless when he heard the report. He knew that this must be to make him unhappy, but he could accept it.

No matter what you do, I have the final say on what title the crown prince should be given.

Li Er and his entourage, several hundred riders, rushed all the way to the vicinity of Mount Zhongnan.

Every time Li Er goes hunting, it is actually more like a military exercise, or military training.

Which team is responsible for driving away the prey, which team is responsible for encircling and blocking the prey, and which team is responsible for entering the hunting camp is the same as the use of troops.

Therefore, hunting was not only a favorite activity of the nobles of this era, but was also related to the military and was a way for the military nobles to demonstrate their bravery.

Arriving outside the city of Chang'an, Li Er galloped on his horse across the plains and felt extremely refreshed. He then drew his bow and shot, never missing his target.

The cavalry on the left and right were also divided into several teams, each with its own duties.

When entering the depths of the dense forest, Li Er suddenly saw a white-browed tiger with hanging eyes. Instead of being surprised, he was delighted and rode his horse to chase it.

The horse he rode was named Telepiao, a fine horse traded from the Turks. Its fur was yellow with white, and its beak was slightly black.

It is a famous Turkic horse with a strong body, long belly and calves. This horse is a typical Dayuan horse from the Syr Darya River Basin, the famous "blood-sweating horse" in the Han Dynasty, and one of the magical horses sought by the people in the Central Plains during this period.

This horse was the one he rode during the Jinyang War, and he loved it very much. It was much faster than the horses of his attendants, but it was this speed that caused problems.

The tiger saw a group of cavalrymen charging on horseback. Although it was a ferocious beast, it knew to seek benefits and avoid harm, so it just ran away.

But as the tiger ran, it found itself surrounded!

Although they are just wild beasts, they are extremely sensitive to danger.

With interceptions in front and pursuits behind, the tiger could only turn around, only to see Li Er drawing a bow and galloping towards it, and he had lost touch with the team behind.

Although the tiger did not know what it meant to capture the leader first, it knew that one person was definitely easier to deal with than a group of people. So the tiger turned around and pounced on Li Er, which was in line with the idea of ​​a trapped beast fighting to the end.

When Li Er saw the tiger running towards him, he was not afraid at all and drew his arrow to shoot the tiger.

But at this critical moment, when he drew the bow, his previously injured shoulder suddenly felt painful and he lost strength. The arrow could not be shot out because it had lost strength, and the tiger pounced directly forward. The horse under Li Er's crotch raised its hooves to avoid the tiger's attack, but it directly knocked Li Er to the ground.

The tiger failed to knock down the horse, but after seeing Li Er fall off the horse, it ran towards Li Er again. Li Er was stunned for a moment and did not realize that danger was approaching.

Fortunately, the guards behind him arrived in time. Qiu Xinggong and Zhai Changsun drew their bows and shot arrows together, injuring the tiger. But the tiger still wanted to pounce on Li Er. At the critical moment, Yang Xianguo threw a spear, which just nailed the tiger to the ground and allowed Li Er to escape from the tiger's mouth.

A group of guards rushed forward to see Li Er's injuries. Li Er couldn't speak, but pointed at his leg and then fainted.

The guards quickly got a car and rushed all the way to Chang'an.

The news that the King of Qin was injured and fainted was immediately known to Li Yuan in the palace.

When Li Yuan heard this, he ignored everything else and went to the Prince of Qin's Palace immediately.

At this time, there was no emperor or ministers, only a father who was thinking about his son.

(End of this chapter)