185: The cheating prince

When Tang Ku stepped onto the Daming Palace steps, a commotion had already broken out inside!

"...I'm not doing it. Whoever wants to do it can do it. I'm perfectly happy being the crown prince forever, so what? Father, don't try to scare me. If you want to strip me of my position as Crown Prince, issue the decree now. Aren't my brothers trying to snatch it? Give it to them! Anyway, I'm not ascending the throne, and I'm not becoming Emperor..."

Tang Ku stood outside, listening to the Crown Prince, Li Chengqian, constantly bickering like a shrew. A strange expression appeared on his face.

Zhang Anan, standing beside him, looked embarrassed and said softly, "He's been making a fuss all night. We originally planned to officially have His Highness the Crown Prince ascend the throne today, but... haha, as you can hear, His Highness the Crown Prince, he..."

Tang Ku sighed helplessly, "Alas, I can understand his feelings. He finally endured to the point of becoming Emperor, but then something like this happened right before his ascension. Anyone would be afraid."

"Exactly. No matter if it's His Majesty, or the other court officials, or even the eloquent Chancellor Fang who participated, everyone tried to persuade him in every way possible, but His Highness the Crown Prince just wouldn't agree. And now, after several hours of arguing, he's just short of throwing a tantrum and rolling on the floor..."

Zhang Anan said with a bitter smile, "So, His Majesty asked me to invite you, saying that your Buddha Dharma is profound, and you must have a way to make the Crown Prince agree to ascend the throne."

Tang Ku curled his lips, "I'll give it a try..."

With that, he pushed open the door and walked in.

In the main hall, Crown Prince Li Chengqian was seen with disheveled hair, holding a palace lantern above his head, standing on the steps, looking as if he was ready to die. Below, Li Shimin and a group of court officials were earnestly trying to persuade him. Li Shimin even said, "My son, even if you don't want to be this Emperor, you must at least consider the dignity of the royal family. What kind of decorum is this behavior?"

"Heh heh, decorum? My life is about to be over, what do I need decorum for? Don't... don't move, don't you guys move. With this thing, if you come any closer, I'll show you what kind of filling I have in here..."

He held the palace lantern in one hand and pointed to his head with the other. In this state, he didn't look like the Crown Prince of Grand Tang at all, but rather a reckless ruffian. The bronze palace lanterns of the Tang dynasty were not light, and it would be easy for him to crack his own skull with his strength!

"Poor Monk Tang Sanzang greets Your Majesty and all the sirs!"

Tang Ku cleared his throat, then greeted them.

Swish!

A large group of people suddenly turned their heads, countless gazes fixed on Tang Ku's face, all beaming with joy, as if besieged people had seen their rescuers. Li Shimin even came over in a few steps, grabbed Tang Ku's hand, and said tearfully, "Holy Monk, you've finally arrived! What should we do about this..."

Tang Ku waved his hand and said, "Please take all the sirs out. I will try to persuade His Highness the Crown Prince, and I hope he will change his mind..."

Emperor Li Shimin seemed to be instantly pardoned. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and waved his hand. The ministers understood, and followed Li Shimin out in single file, leaving the hall completely empty, quickly and cleanly. The last one to leave was Chancellor Fang Xuanling, who even closed the door behind him.

Tang Ku noticed that the Emperor of Great Tang's eyes were like a panda's, as if poisoned, and even the white hairs on his temples had increased significantly, showing how much he had worried about this matter.

"Hoo..."

Seeing that everyone had left the main hall, leaving only Tang Ku, the bald monk, Crown Prince Li Chengqian finally let out a sigh of relief. He threw the palace lantern as if he was exhausted and slumped to the ground.

Tang Ku vaguely saw a trace of black Qi beginning to emerge from behind him, and a ghost-like face faintly appearing.

Tang Ku coughed lightly, then subtly waved at the ghost face, signaling it to be patient. The ghost face then gradually receded.

"Holy Monk, I know why you're here... You don't need to persuade me. At worst, I won't be the Crown Prince, and I won't be that so-called Emperor!"

Li Chengqian looked at Tang Ku and said resolutely.

"You've been looking forward to this throne for a long time, why have you changed your mind today?"

Tang Ku smiled, "Is it because of the evil spirits that you're truly afraid?"

Li Chengqian rolled his eyes, "Nonsense, who wouldn't be afraid? I just went up to offer sacrifices to heaven, and there were demons and monsters trying to harm me. Before, when I was just exchanging the imperial seal, some immortal actually tried to snatch it? It's a good thing you found Yuan to stand in for me, otherwise, if this Crown Prince had been in the Golden Palace, I'd probably be cold in my grave by now! Oh, speaking of which, I haven't thanked you yet. I heard you also cured my hysteria, is that right?"

With that, Li Chengqian suddenly jumped up and bowed deeply to Tang Ku.

..."Alas, what a good child, just a bit old..."

Tang Ku thought to himself, then raised his right hand. Li Chengqian immediately felt a strange force lifting him upright.

"Hmm, you don't need to be so polite. I just did it casually... Hmm, are you really planning to give up this easily attainable throne?"

Tang Ku chuckled softly.

"Alas, I don't want to give it up either!" Li Chengqian slumped back onto the steps, his face full of bitter smiles. "They all say I'm the Crown Prince for ten thousand years. My heart, it had long flown to the throne. I am not someone who covets power. I now have a belly full of strategies for governing the country that I want to implement. I want to build Grand Tang into the most powerful country in this world... Speaking of which, not long ago, my Father said he would abdicate and pass the throne to me. I was so excited I couldn't sleep for three days. I felt that I finally had the opportunity to show my abilities, to let my Father, and those brothers who coveted the throne, see that I, Li Chengqian, am a virtuous and capable Emperor, and none of them are as good as I am... But..."

"...But I'm really scared... Father has told me that those demons are from another world. As soon as they arrived, they turned the entire Three Realms upside down. Even gods and Buddhas are not their opponents. And if I ascend the throne in the future, I will be facing such powerful monsters, and even... even those immortals will become our enemies. Father letting me ascend now, he's just making things easy for himself, isn't he just putting me on a spit roast? I admit I'm good at leading troops in battle, and I even understand a bit about governing the country or making money, but fighting immortals? Heh heh, I really can't do it!"

Li Chengqian said dejectedly, "Whoever has the ability, let them do it. Anyway, I can't be this Emperor. I don't have the ability to fight against the entire Heavenly Court, let alone those monsters who are even stronger than the immortals in heaven. You all... spare me!"

With that, Li Chengqian leaned back and just lay flat... Well, not just in the literal sense of lying flat.

Tang Ku narrowed his eyes slightly. He had heard Li Chengqian's inner thoughts. Since he knew his thoughts, it would be easy to handle... "His Highness the Crown Prince, what are you afraid of? You have Poor Monk, you have the people of the world, you have countless capable individuals protecting you, what are you afraid of?"

Tang Ku suddenly roared like a lion, "Poor Monk guarantees you will become an Emperor for all eternity!"