Love Affairs in Chang'an - Chapter 45

Chapter 45 King Li Tai of Wei
Li Shimin took advantage of the heat to strike the iron and said, “Auxiliary equipment, this little friction should be eliminated frankly. That’s fine. Qin Mubai and Changsun Huan are both good seedlings. I must keep them by my side to train and nurture them properly. Therefore, you don’t need to say anything further. I will never drive Changsun Huan out of Baiji.”

“This … Since His Majesty has made up his mind, I can only obey the decree.” Eldest Sun Wuji bowed and said with a slightly wronged expression, “However, this lowly official wants to make an agreement with His Majesty.”

“Yes, tell me.”

“If my son dares to violate the military rules or commit other mistakes in the future, please do not worry about my face. We must drive my son out of Baiji and deal with him seriously!” Changsun Wuji said resolutely.

“Alright, alright.” Li Shimin nodded his head. “The prince has broken the law and committed the same crime as the commoners. I will follow all the rules of the law. I will neither take sides nor deliberately make things difficult because he is your son.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” Eldest Sun Wuji immediately turned to Qin Mubai and said, “General Qin, I also want to make an appointment with you.” In the future, Changsun Huan will be your subordinate in the army. Please don’t treat him differently. Don’t be upset about him because he has had some friction with you before, and don’t be scared because he is my son. Whatever it was, it was what it was. I mean that in no way should this affect the unity and normal order of Baiji. ”

“Yes, I promise Situ.” Qin Mubai cupped his hands and replied, “Situ is as broad-minded as a sea. Like father, like son. I believe that I can get along well with the eldest grandson in the future. Situ is right. No matter what, we can’t forget Baiji’s duty. This is the most important thing!”

“General Qin, I don’t have any prejudices against you. It’s just that General Qin is too outstanding … I’m just a little jealous. Now that I’ve seen General Qin’s virtue, I sincerely admire him. From now on, I’m willing to sincerely assist General Qin in in bringing Baiji along and loyal to His Majesty.”

Qin Mubai clasped his hands and smiled heartily, “I’m looking forward to it!”

“Haha! It’s great to shake hands and make peace.” Li Shimin smiled and said, “Auxiliary machine, it has been almost half a year since you wore this official robe and came to our main hall. I didn’t expect that you would come to see me today because of such a trivial matter with Changsun Huan. Since you’ve come, I can’t let you go easily-all of you can leave now. I want to talk about the past with Situ in detail.”

“This lowly official obeys the decree!” Qin Mubai and Changsun Huan bowed and retreated. At this moment, another young man, who had been standing on the other side without saying a word and was almost treated as if he did not exist, bowed and bowed, “Your son, please leave.”

“Oh, Tai’er, you don’t have to go far. I still have to test your talents later.” Li Shimin said, “You, Qin Mubai, Changsun Huan, and the others should go outside the Martial Arts Hall!”

“Yes, Father Emperor!”

At this moment, Qin Mubai thought, Tai’er? Could it be King Wei, Li Tai? !

He had long since heard that Li Shimin was exceptionally fond of his fourth son, Li Tai. Now, he had already been brought to the palace to live in, and he had set up a house for him in the Martial Moral Palace. On the contrary, Li Shimin was not so interested in the Crown Prince Li Chengqian that he had already set up, and he was increasingly disappointed. As a result, rumors began to spread in the court that Li Shimin had the intention to cripple Li Chengqian and change his mind to Li Tai.

It was precisely because of this that the imperial court’s hidden struggle for possession of the inheritance had become a surge of clouds and waves. All the officials were at a loss as to which side should they stand in line? Was it the ready-made Crown Prince Li Chengqian, or was it Li Tai who had the posture of a latecomer?

It is said that Li Tai’s literary talent is very outstanding. Most of the people he made friends with were geniuses and famous officials, and he was also quick-witted and eager to learn. Because of this, Li Shimin allowed him to open a literary museum, and recruited a large number of scholars and scholars to study with Li Tai, compile books and articles.

Normally, only the Crown Prince had the right to establish the Chongwen Pavilion to accommodate bachelors.

Just this point was enough to make the officials’ hearts skip a beat, believing that the Emperor had the heart to cripple. Back then, Li Shimin had set up a literary museum in the Qin Palace. The famous Eighteen Scholars were his think tank, and now they were all high-ranking officials and officials in the court. For example, Zhenguan Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui were among the eighteen scholars.

In addition, the emperor made an exception to allow Li Tai to live in the palace, instead of following the rules and going to Fengyi as an official like Li Ke and other princes, which made everyone secretly believe that the emperor was indeed going to change Li Tai to the crown prince!

…

The three of them walked out of the Imperial Study together. Qin Mubai looked at Li Tai inadvertently and thought to himself, “So Li Ke is a big fat man who is out of breath when he walks … At first glance, he seems to be kind-eyed and harmless. The smile on his face is as warm as spring.”

However, many TV dramas in my previous life told me that no matter if Li Tai was truly harmless, merciful, or how much he was favored now, neither he nor Li Chengqian became the Crown Prince in the end, so they naturally did not have the right to ascend to the throne! Moreover, the outcome of these two brothers seems to be quite miserable … En, there are no eggs under the nest. Stay away from him, so we don’t follow the trend like the others. We want to curry favor with King Wei at this time. Fortunately, after he ascends to the throne, he will gain some benefits from the Dragon Merit.

In comparison, Empress Zhangsun’s direct son, Li Tai, was much sharper than his concubine son, Li Ke. It could be said that everyone knew of Sima Zhaozhi’s heart. Being close to him was more dangerous than following Li Ke!

“If the two generals don’t mind, can you follow Xiao Wang around the Imperial Garden nearby?” Li Tai chuckled. He smiled honestly and arched his fat hands towards the two of them.

“King Wei has an order, so you should obey.” Qin Mubai and Changsun Huan cupped their hands together and said, “Your Highness, please!”

“Hehe, there’s no need to be so outsider!” Li Tai smiled and said, “Brother Chang Sun, we haven’t seen each other for a few days. You’ve won the title of Deputy Minister Baiji, and Little Wang hasn’t congratulated you yet!”–Brother Qin, although it’s the first time we’ve met, Little Wang has heard so much about you. Your pipa, wine making, and martial arts talent are all praised by His Majesty. It’s truly a great fortune to meet you today! ”

“Your Highness Prince Wei, you’re ridiculously praising me! This lowly one is truly unable to ascend to the grand hall with these small tricks of carvings and insects.” Qin Mubai said, “Your Majesty has long heard that Your Highness is extremely knowledgeable and highly respected by the great scholar of the present generation. I, Wu Fu, am blind and have always admired those who are knowledgeable and versatile. I admire Your Highness even more.”

“Haha!” Li Tai laughed loudly, “Shall we not flatter each other like this? Brother Chang Sun, Brother Qin, we are all young people. Let’s travel together and talk about some happy things that young people like. What do you think?”

“Haha, what His Highness said is extremely true.” Changsun Huan and Qin Mubai naturally had no choice but to accept with a smile.

The three of them walked and chatted. They arrived at the Imperial Garden and strolled around for an hour before the sun dissipated toward the west.

Obviously, Li Tai’s personal relationship with Changsun Huan was not bad. Moreover, he also intentionally tried to rope in Qin Mubai, occasionally trying to get close to him, and even vaguely hinted that he didn’t want Changsun Huan to cause any conflicts with his own people. He especially advised him to persuade Yuchi Baoyun, that stubborn donkey, to apologize to Qin Mubai on his own initiative.

Yuchi Jingde was now the secretary of the outer court, so he might not know about Yuchi Baoyun until now. Li Tai’s attitude greatly replaced Yuchi Jingde’s to follow Eldest Sun Wuji’s example.

Changsun Huan naturally agreed. In front of Li Tai, Changsun Huan had repeatedly expressed his desire to shake hands with Qin Mubai and make peace with him. From then on, he would work together and get along “like brothers”.

Qin Mubai felt awkward.

Very hypocritical, very hypocritical.

He clearly felt that Changsun Huan was still gritting his teeth and hating him, but he could still squeeze out a pile of smiles on his face and utter those dignified words with extreme sincerity.

Regardless of whether he was sincere, fake, or posturing, none of this really mattered. His son was in an awkward situation with outsiders. It was not for him, Situ, to personally take care of such trivial matters. The only reason he did this was probably because the Emperor knew about this matter, and he desperately hoped that his son would continue to work in Baiji in the future.

Changsun Wuji didn’t want the Emperor to hate Changsun Huan because of this matter, which would affect his son’s future career and development, or cast some shadow over the Changsun Clan.

Naturally, it was someone of the same level or higher who could make an eldest Sun Wuji contestant appear-he was only targeting the Emperor. Perhaps, they had never really seen a small figure like Qin Mubai in the corner of their eyes.

As for Li Tai, his intention was even more obvious-he was trying to woo people.

Even though Qin Mubai was only a lowly newbie, he would soon become an imperial general beside the emperor. This meant that Qin Mubai could see and hear things that many people, including his most beloved prince, could not see.

This was too useful for Li Tai, who was all about saving.

Moreover, Li Tai had a habit. Beside him, a large number of nobles from rich families and young masters from the Juhuan Clan were gathered. For example, Fang Yiai, son of Fang Xuanling, Fang Yiai, son of Chai Shao, son-in-law Chai Lingwu, son of Du Ruhui, Du He, son of Yuchi Jingde, Yuchi Baoyun, and so on. This was the backbone of the Wei King’s Party that everyone in the capital knew about.

It seemed logical to pull Qin Qiong’s son Qin Mubai in.

But in Qin Mubai’s heart, he had long since decided to stay away from Li Tai. I don’t want to get involved with him and suffer in the future.

Qin Mubai and Eldest Sun Huan headed towards the Hundred Cavalry Camp when they saw the time for dinner in the barracks. The two of them are really like a pair of good brothers who don’t know each other even if they don’t fight. You say Brother Qin, and I say Brother Chang Sun. They walk into the barracks side by side, chatting and laughing.

When the people of Baiji saw this scene, they were dumbfounded. What was going on? There’s no room for two tigers in a mountain. When did these two tigers become friends?