23: Fearing Li Chengqian, he wanted to demote the crown prince

“Tap, tap, tap.”

Steady, rhythmic footsteps approached from afar, breaking the deathly silence in the hall.

Wei Zheng, dressed in a dark purple court robe and holding a hu board, walked in without glancing left or right. He stopped three paces from the imperial desk, bowed, and saluted.

“Your subject, Wei Zheng, greets Your Majesty.”

“Xuan Cheng is here.”

Li Shimin did not turn around, his voice so calm that no emotion could be discerned. “Grant him a seat.”

A eunuch brought a brocade stool, but Wei Zheng did not sit, remaining standing upright.

“Thank Your Majesty. Your subject prefers to stand.”

Li Shimin finally turned slowly. He observed the subject before him, who was older than him and whose hair had already turned white.

His face was weathered, but his eyes were still as bright as ever, capable of seeing through people’s hearts.

“I hear the Eastern Palace has been quite lively recently.”

Li Shimin leisurely walked to the imperial desk and sat down, his fingers unconsciously tapping the tabletop. “Qin Qiong, Jingde, Zhijie… those boys from their families, they run to the Eastern Palace every day, making the training grounds almost turn upside down.”

His tone was that of someone discussing an unimportant household matter, but Wei Zheng detected an unusual undertone.

“Reporting to Your Majesty, Qin Huaiyu, Yuchi Baolin, and others are all guards of His Highness the Crown Prince. Their drills at the Eastern Palace are their duty.”

“Their duty?”

Li Shimin chuckled softly, picked up the teacup on the desk, and blew away the foam. “My Qingque (Li Tai) also opened a literary academy, attracting scholars from all over the Empire. Why haven’t I seen those sons of noble families show such enthusiasm?”

He paused, then set the teacup down heavily, making a soft “clang” sound.

The air in the hall instantly grew several degrees colder.

“Is Qingque not good? Or is it that my other sons simply don’t catch the eye of those little rascals?”

It’s coming.

Wei Zheng’s heart tightened.

He knew this was the true purpose of His Majesty summoning him to the palace today.

This was not a father complaining about his sons’ favoritism in friendships, but an emperor questioning whether the Crown Prince’s authority had exceeded his tolerance.

Wei Zheng lowered his gaze, his voice devoid of any ripples, yet every word was firm and resonant, like metal striking the ground.

“His Highness Prince Wei is highly talented and elegant, naturally admired by literati and refined scholars. However, Qin Huaiyu and other descendants of generals, having been immersed in military culture since childhood, seek the achievements of expanding territory and gaining fame on horseback.”

“Their allegiance to His Highness the Crown Prince is not because His Highness the Crown Prince is more personally favored by them than other princes.”

Wei Zheng looked up, meeting Li Shimin’s unfathomable eyes, and said, word by word, “It is simply because the two words ‘Crown Prince’ are not something other princes can covet!”

“This is the foundation of the state, the great righteousness between a ruler and his subjects, the cornerstone of the Empire!”

These words were decisive and forceful.

Throughout the Ganlu Hall, only Wei Zheng’s echoes lingered.

Li Shimin’s expression, in that instant, became extremely grim.

He narrowed his eyes, staring at Wei Zheng, an invisible imperial pressure, like a mountain, bore down on Wei Zheng.

Wei Zheng’s straight back, however, was like an unyielding spear, not moving an inch.

“Foundation of the state… great righteousness between ruler and subject…”

Li Shimin’s knuckles turned slightly white from the force. He squeezed these words through his teeth, the venomous snake of suspicion in his heart frantically gnawing at his reason.

What a Wei Zheng!

What a ‘foundation of the state’!

He is reminding me that Chengqian is the Crown Prince, the rightful heir, and no one else can even think about it!

But the more he does this, the more uneasy I become!

In Li Shimin’s mind, the bloody scene at Xuanwu Gate years ago resurfaced uncontrollably.

The blood-stained palace walls, the wails of his brothers, his father’s face intertwined with despair and terror… He had spent half his life breaking free from that nightmare, bringing a shattered Empire back on track.

He would never allow his sons to follow his old path!

He would never allow anyone to threaten the glorious Great Tang he had built with his own hands!

The Crown Prince must be restrained!

Otherwise, once he gains full power, I, his imperial father, might not be able to control him!

Once this thought arose, it grew wildly like weeds.

The gloomy look on Li Shimin’s face gradually receded, replaced by a deep, unfathomable calmness.

He looked at Wei Zheng, then suddenly changed the subject, his tone becoming gentle.

“Xuan Cheng speaks wisely; I was overly concerned. Chengqian is the Crown Prince, the heir of Great Tang. It is a good thing for these young men to follow him; it shows loyalty.”

Wei Zheng did not respond, merely watching the emperor silently.

He knew the emperor’s words were never so simple.

Indeed, Li Shimin continued, “However, Chengqian is also getting older. Staying in Chang’an all day, under my wing, he will ultimately be a flower in a greenhouse, unable to withstand the wind and rain. To truly become a qualified Crown Prince, he needs more experience, to personally understand the suffering of the common people, and to become familiar with local governance.”

He leaned forward slightly, looking at Wei Zheng with an undeniable authority in his eyes.

“I intend to grant the Crown Prince a fief. Jing Province is a good place.”

“Tomorrow morning at court, you shall propose it.”

Boom!

These words, like a clap of thunder, exploded in Wei Zheng’s mind.

Grant him a fief?!

To make the Crown Prince leave Chang’an, the political center, and go to the distant Jing Province?

Under the guise of gaining experience?

This was clearly a disguised exile!

It was a strategy to remove the foundation!

The emperor intended to sever the hard-won connections between the Crown Prince and the officials and military nobles in the capital, to turn him into an isolated prince in a distant fief!

And to have “him,” Wei Zheng, propose it, was even more insidious!

Who in the court did not know that Wei Zheng was a staunch supporter of the Eastern Palace?

If he proposed the Crown Prince’s enfeoffment, others would only assume it was the Eastern Palace’s own intention, for the Crown Prince’s own good, thereby greatly reducing opposition.

What a masterful imperial stratagem!

Wei Zheng felt a chill run from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

He finally understood that today’s summons had been a trap from beginning to end.

The earlier questions about Li Tai and the sons of nobles were merely a prelude, designed to elicit his words in defense of the Crown Prince, and then to smoothly present the decision of “enfeoffment for experience”—a seemingly grand but in fact sinister plan!

The emperor’s suspicion of the Crown Prince had reached such a depth!

Wei Zheng slowly lowered his head, holding the hu board to his chest, his voice dry and heavy.

“Your subject… obeys the imperial edict.”

He dared not look up, fearing that the shock, anger, and worry in his eyes would incur deeper displeasure from the emperor.

At this moment, he felt that what he carried on his shoulders was not just an imperial edict, but the entire future destiny of the Great Tang… The night was as dark as ink, shrouding Prince Jin’s Residence in silence.

Unlike the liveliness of the Eastern Palace or the solemnity of the Imperial Palace, this place seemed particularly cold, even somewhat inappropriately low-key.

Inside the study, candlelight flickered.

Prince Jin, Li Zhi, a mere sixteen years old, sat upright at his desk, meticulously copying a calligraphy scroll by a famous master from the previous dynasty.

He was focused, with delicate features, dressed in simple blue everyday clothes, looking like a wealthy young master detached from worldly affairs.

A figure silently entered, none other than the Grand Commandant of the current dynasty, and also Li Zhi’s maternal uncle, Zhangsun Wuji.

“Uncle.”