Chapter 30 Li Yuan
When the time was almost right, Yang Su and Li Jiancheng stepped into the East Palace. From a distance they saw the dishevelled and angry Crown Prince. The two of them walked up to him slowly and saluted.

Yang Yong also tried hard to restrain his anger and wanted to put on a sad and humble attitude, but he had always been accustomed to indulging his emotions for decades, so how could it be so easy to correct it?

Li Jiancheng did not say anything, but just watched Yang Su tear off the mask that Yang Yong had tried so hard to maintain with just a few questions. Yang Yong, who had completely collapsed, loudly scolded Yang Su and the others for being Yang Guang's running dogs, and even had the urge to pounce on them and beat them.

Li Jiancheng quietly looked at the prince of the Sui Dynasty, whose face was pale, with deep dark circles and bloodshot eyes. He thought that the past experience was a lesson for the future. This position was not so easy to hold on to. As long as he showed the slightest weakness, he would be pulled down and trampled upon until there was no recovery.

They had received a satisfactory answer, so they ignored Yang Yong and left to report to Yong'an Palace. Yang Jian, who also looked unhappy, asked directly when he saw them coming back, "What is the Crown Prince's answer?"

Yang Su lowered his head and answered truthfully: "The prince talked to me, only intending to be arrogant and extravagant, and said: If there are people who advise against it, they should be beheaded. If you don't kill a hundred people, it will naturally stop forever."

"And he raised his elbow and raised his beard, saying: A real man will never forget this day, and he will definitely be happy! I will kill one or two people below the Minister of Public Security, so that they will know the consequences of being slow to me!"

When the emperor and empress began to look unhappy, Yang Su added the final blow: "Your Majesty, I am not afraid that the crown prince will blame me, but I am worried that his resentment is not limited to me."

After hearing this, the couple looked at each other and then ordered the two men to leave.

After they left, Yang Jian said, "You and I cannot entrust our foundation to such a scoundrel. However, deposing the eldest son and enthroning the youngest son is a serious matter. Gao Zuo will definitely not agree to it if he is in power."

Dugu Jialuo said coldly: "Your Majesty, do you still trust Gao Jiong? Last year, when Madam Gao Qiu passed away, I advised Your Majesty to marry a new wife for Jiong. But he said that he was old and only stayed at home to read Buddhist scriptures after retirement. But I learned yesterday that his concubine gave birth to a son for him. His deception has been exposed.

"Last year, Your Majesty wanted to conquer Goguryeo. Jiong initially did not want to go, but Your Majesty forced him to go. I knew at that time that the battle would probably be fruitless. As expected, the army returned without success and wasted food and grass."

Yang Jian had been wary of Gao Zuo's reign for more than ten years. Seeing that the queen had abandoned him, he naturally seized the opportunity to say, "Such disloyalty should be demoted to serve as a warning to others!"

.........

Li Jiancheng stopped in Yongxiang, and Yang Su left the palace on his own. It was obvious that he did not admire him as much as the rumors said.

He went back to the classroom and talked with Dou Dan. After the shift was over, he went straight back to the mansion. The front of the Li family mansion was finally a little lively, with several rows of carriages and more than a dozen coachmen and servants talking in low voices.

When Li Yuan came back, all the relatives and old friends of the Li family came to visit him, perhaps to file a complaint.

When they arrived at the main hall, they saw that all the elders from other branches of the Li family had arrived. Li Jiancheng stepped forward and bowed deeply to Li Yuan, who was in the main seat. He said, "Father, you are returning to the capital. I was unable to go outside the city to greet you in person. Please forgive me."

Li Yuan was not handsome, with a thin face, a high forehead and a strong body. He had a very friendly smile, which made people want to get close to him.

Li Yuan stood up and helped his son up, saying, "My son has always been filial. Now that your majesty trusts him and he is appointed as a Qianniu attendant at such a young age, I am extremely pleased as a father. There is no reason to blame him."

After expressing his gratitude, Li Jiancheng bowed to the other elders, who also praised him generously, including Li An.

"My son, go down and change your clothes and then go meet your grandmother."

"Yes."

Li Jiancheng was about to leave, but was stopped by Li Shao, who said, "Shude, you don't know because you are not in Beijing. Jiancheng is now famous. Even the left and right ministers praise him. He can't be regarded as a child. This is related to the family. Let Jiancheng stay and discuss it together." Li An said directly, "Jiancheng, your father is back too. Just tell me what you want to say."

Seeing this, Li Yuanle no longer insisted and happily pointed to a seat nearby and asked his son to sit down.

Naturally, Li Jiancheng had nothing to hide at this time, so he simply told the story in general. The uncles and elders frowned and smiled, as they obviously had not expected that Li Jiancheng was so deeply involved.

Li Shao stood up impatiently and said to Li Yuan: "This is also a good thing for our Li family. Since the emperor and empress have made up their minds, the crown prince and the Duke of Qi must step down. With Jiancheng's merits, our family can also fill a few vacancies in the vacant positions."

After saying this, he was worried that Li Jiancheng was too young and might have made mistakes, so he said to him, "Jiancheng, it's not that your uncles and aunts want to take credit for your achievements. You are the eldest son of our family. In the future, everyone in the family will follow your lead and be your arm..."

After listening to this, Li Jiancheng laughed and said, "How can we say different things to each other as family members? Jiancheng was favored by the Queen and the Prince of Jin because of his family. As long as it can help to expand the family, there is no need to hesitate."

"A tree without roots is doomed to die. Uncles, please rest assured that Jiancheng will do his best in front of King Jin to restore the family's former glory!"

"Great, you are worthy of being the Qilin of the Li family!"

"With the blessing of our ancestors, our Li family will work together to restore the country to its former glory."

After half an hour of discussion, the group dispersed. Li Yuan's warm smile slowly disappeared. He looked at his son and said, "Everyone wants to have a share of the soup, but your contribution may not be enough."

Li Jiancheng disagreed: "I didn't intend to help them rise to the top overnight, but I just hope that more of my family members can join the army as officers."

There are too many idle children in the Li family now. These people have received a good education. Even if they are not good at moral character and talent, at least they are good at both literature and martial arts.

As long as they have a good starting point and have a distinguished elder in the court, they will be able to make something of themselves in seven or eight years. When they gather together in the future, they will be a considerable force, and they will be the direct lineage.

Li Yuan suddenly looked at his son in confusion and said, "My son used to only know how to play, but how come he has become so great in just half a year? I heard a lot of people praising you on the way here."

"Do the Duke of Qi and the Duke of Yue really admire you that much?"

"One day when I woke up, I suddenly felt clear-headed and sharp-eyed. Things that I couldn't think of before became clear to me after a little thought, not just why."

"As for the Duke of Qi and the Duke of Yue, I think they want to praise their sons to death."

Li Yuan didn't understand it either, but he thought it was a good thing, so he just regarded it as a blessing from his ancestors. He happily took him to meet the old lady and said that he would test his archery skills later.

Dugu was holding Ah Ju, but when she saw her eldest grandson coming, she quickly handed the younger one to Dou, beckoned and embraced her eldest grandson, weeping: "Yang Jian, that beast, is so shameless. He lost his integrity in his later years and even took his anger out on my grandson. Dugu Jialuo is also so cruel. Bah, snakes and rats are of the same nest!"

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(End of this chapter)