Li Chengjin no longer knew how to read people's faces, and he could tell that what Li Qishen said came from the heart. It was a true mockery, not just from a young son to his elderly father, but also from the winner to the loser.
"…Those who steal a hook will be put to death, and those who steal a country will be made marquis. OK." Li Chengjin forced himself to calm down and not show his weakness in front of Li Qishen. He raised his chin and looked at his tall son with the same contemptuous eyes he used in Xuanzheng Hall or Zichen Hall. "Even if you steal a country, you are still surnamed Li, and you are still my son! As long as I am alive, you must respect me as your king and father. A hundred years after I die, you must still worship me in Xuanyuan Hall, and your descendants must also worship me!"
"If you don't know life, how can you know death? When you die, I will worship the spirit tablet, not you." Li Qishen didn't understand Li Chengjing's sudden arrogance, nor did he intend to understand. He calmly exposed the truth, "Besides, not everyone who has been an emperor can enter the Xuanyuan Hall. The Queen Mother officially changed the country's name and called him 'Your Majesty', but she still didn't enter the hall, right?"
"you… "
"Hush, stop making trouble, don't let people outside laugh at you, you are shameless, but I still have to take a little bit of it." Li Qishen exhaled softly, "Now you have two choices. Come back to Chang'an City with me, I will take good care of you and ensure that you will live a safe and smooth life as an emperor for the rest of your life; otherwise,"
He paused, then casually untied the sword from his light armor. This sword was originally a ceremonial sword and would not be unsheathed, and Li Qishen was used to using a gun, but when he untied it, the scabbard came out, and the sword actually reflected a sharp cold light under the lamp. It was obvious that it was carefully hammered and carefully polished, and it was likely that one sword could cut through the bronze lamp holder.
Li Qishen threw the scabbard on the ground with a clang, and when he looked down at Li Chengjing, he said calmly, "Just be the late emperor."
"… Are you crazy? You are crazy, you are crazy!" Li Chengjing had a hunch that Li Qishen was capable of doing this, but he could not show his weakness. He could only keep repeating words that were actually useless to encourage himself, "I am the emperor! It's you, my father! Do you want to kill the emperor and your father? You are crazy, you are crazy…"
"You are the one who is crazy." Li Qishen remained calm, "The person who wrote the imperial edict for me is also in the army this time."
Li Chengjing's pupils shrank. Li Qishen naturally did not inform him when he ascended the throne, but he later read the imperial edict, which was written in parallel style, with ups and downs and a broad perspective. It was obvious that the person who wrote it was indeed a genius in this field. If he was given a pen, it would not be a problem for him to confuse right and wrong.
He had been forced to step down from the throne, the rebellion was about to be suppressed, An Guangxing was dead, and it was Li Qishen to whom the military governors and court officials knelt, and it was also Li Qishen who sent the imperial edicts from Chang'an City to all directions.
His son grew up and sat at the top of the empire, eyeing the entire country covetously and ready to bite anyone's throat at any time.
The suppressed fear suddenly attacked Li Chengjing. He looked at the sword-wielding figure and recalled the past with extreme horror. When he was still young, he broke into Qingning Palace and accidentally knocked over the candlestick. He finally escaped from the raging fire and shivered on the couch in the bedroom. After a night of waiting, the palace guards outside repeatedly announced that the eunuchs stretched their throats and sang "--Your Majesty has arrived."
He thought that Aye was here to comfort him, and he wanted to cry and laugh at the same time, so he quickly asked someone to open the door. When the door opened, the person who walked in was indeed his father, but he was holding a flexible rattan stick in his hand.
The figures of the father and the son overlapped in an instant. Li Chengjing was panicked, his face turned pale, his white lips trembled, and he couldn't utter a word.
"Then I'll choose for you. We'll set off for Chang'an in three days and go to Taiji Palace." Li Qishen was not incapable of killing his father or the king, but he was just too lazy. He didn't sheath his sword and just held it up. "I think the new palace is good. You can spend your old age there."
The new palace was where Emperor Zhaoxuan lived when he was young. The Queen Mother had already chosen him as the future heir, and fearing that he would indulge in pleasure, the palace was decorated extremely simply, even austerely. A couch was only big enough for one person to lie flat, and even turning over was not easy. Even though he later made his father and grandfather disgusted, Li Chengjing had never tasted the taste of hardship. He had never stopped burning incense on the way to escape, but now he had to move to such a place. He didn't have the courage to let him die, nor did he want to die, but if he was allowed to live, there would be endless pain and torture.
Besides, it was a new palace, and living in it, he would inevitably think of his grandfather. He remembered that one month after his grandmother passed away, he went to find his grandfather and advised him not to torture himself like this for his grandmother, but to find someone he liked instead.
Then he saw with his own eyes that Emperor Zhaoxuan's expression changed. The man in black with long black hair showed obvious disgust on his elegant face. When he spoke, his voice was very soft, but it was filled with surging anger: "Get lost."
…it has always been like this.
When Li Chengjing was young, he also wanted to please his father and grandfather and ask several tutors to praise him, but his father and grandfather were cold to him. The tutors would only shake their heads and sigh that he was not as good as the emperors of the previous dynasties. The eldest princess Danhua, who was related by blood, hated him so much that she dared to scold him to his face. Others said that there was a rare royal family affection when his father was in power, but he was alone. Looking around, people who were related by blood to him looked down on him.
Of course, there were people who praised him, such as his wet nurse An, Concubine Xiao, and An Guangxing, who was a flatterer in the court... But were these people really sincere? Or were they attracted by the throne under him? Without that position, Li Chengjing was still the same person who had nothing and could not please anyone.
The new emperor was his son, but he looked at him with indifference, not even bothering to show him contempt, because many years ago, in order to please another woman, he personally ordered the beating of Li Qishen's mother.
Li Chengjin suddenly felt a headache, and he covered his head fiercely, falling onto the cushion, holding his head tightly, and squeezed out a question that he had never understood in his life from between his teeth: "Why, why..."
Li Qishen looked at him with disgust, without even trying to help him. He raised his sword, turned around and walked out, saying to the guard at the door, "The emperor seems to be too excited and has a headache. Find a doctor to take a look."
The guards did not suspect anything and immediately responded, running to the nearby courtyard to find a military doctor. As soon as he left, the vacant space was immediately filled by soldiers in formation, in an orderly manner, only following Li Qishen's orders, and no one was curious about what happened to the emperor inside.
Li Qishen was too lazy to look back, he slowly raised his legs, holding his sword and went to the other connected courtyard. This time, in addition to the soldiers in light armor, there were also a few maids guarding the door. When they saluted, the sound of armor rubbing against each other made a special sound, mixed with the crisp greetings of the young woman, which was quite interesting to listen to.
"Get up." Li Qishen signaled them to get up as usual and pushed the door open.
As soon as he entered, the woman in the room reacted more strongly than Li Chengjing. She immediately hugged the boy beside her and stared at the sword in his hand: "You...what are you doing here? It's not enough that you killed so many people, are you going to kill me and Bi'er now?"
This woman was not normal before she fled south, and she was once captured by the rebels. She was so beautiful that she had to give herself to a man to save her life and her son's. She was born in a noble family and had been a high and mighty crown princess, but she was tossed around in the rebels and suffered countless tortures. Now she is even crazier, holding her son tightly, as if holding the only thing in her life, and she looks a bit pitiful.
Although he hated her, he had no sympathy for her, but Li Qishen would not humiliate her by using the fact that women were forced to commit suicide. He just called out to her casually to wake her up: "Xiao Xuan. Shu'er is gone."
"Shu'er, Shu'er..." Xiao Xuan seemed to not understand who this name referred to. She repeated it several times, and suddenly realized it. Her face was distorted as she shouted at Li Qishen, "It's you who did it, it's you who did it! She's still young, and she's a girl... You didn't even let your brother's daughter go, are you still a human being? You are shameless, even if you crawl..."
"It's lung disease." Seeing Xiao Xuan like this, it was nothing more than using Shu'er's death to vent her anger and scold him a few more times. Anyway, she was not a loving mother who would truly be sad for her daughter. He was too lazy to say more and directly stated his purpose, "This child is the legitimate son of the former crown prince. Since he is still alive, some people in the court said that he should be brought back to Chang'an City and made the crown prince."
Xiao Xuan's voice suddenly stopped. She looked at Li Qishen in surprise and loosened her grip on her son. "What did you say?"
Of course, it was impossible to make Li Cangbi the crown prince. It was not that Li Qishen was so attached to the throne, but he had to help his son who had not even shown a shadow to ascend the throne. It would really cause trouble in the future. Just his congenital deficiency would cause a lot of trouble. At that time, someone did mention it in the court, and it was an old minister of the previous dynasty. Before he could finish his words, he was scolded by Ye Jian and Cui Shi without using any dirty words. The scolding made him feel uncomfortable on the spot. Three days later, he submitted a memorial to beg for his bones and went home. He was quite angry.
Li Qishen brought this up suddenly not to tease Xiao Xuan, but just to get the matter over with, so he simply said to Li Cangbi, "Come here, come to me."
Li Cangbi barely reached the age to be a governor, but he did not understand the turmoil in Chang'an City, let alone the conflict between his mother and uncle. He glanced at Xiao Xuan, and seeing that she had no reaction, he turned his head to look at Li Qishen again, tentatively approaching him.
Wearing light armor and holding an unsheathed sword, it would be easy for him to kill a child. Xiao Xuan's heart was in her throat, and she was sweating unconsciously, fearing that Li Qishen would suddenly go crazy and chop Li Cangbi with a sword. She wanted to protect her son, but another voice in her heart advised her to be patient.
As long as Li Qishen gave in and Li Cangbi returned to Chang'an, it sounded like some court officials supported him. As long as he could be made the crown prince, her life as his biological mother would not be too difficult. If something happened during this period, once Li Qishen died, Li Cangbi would succeed him, and she would be the queen mother.
The Empress Dowager, the biological mother of the Emperor, could rule the country from behind the scenes, let alone enjoy wealth and glory. Even imitating the Empress Dowager... might not be a bad idea.
Xiao Xuan swallowed and watched Li Cangbi get closer to Li Qishen.
Li Cangbi didn't know what his mother was thinking, nor what his uncle was thinking. He was inexplicably afraid of Li Qishen out of instinct. He swallowed several times before squeezing out a sentence: "Uncle..."
"Do you want to be the crown prince?" Li Qishen lowered his head, looked at the skinny child, and smiled very lightly, "Don't be afraid, tell the truth."
Li Cangbi probably knew what a prince was, and the reference was Aye. He didn't want to live a life of fear and exhaustion like Li Zhuoqi, so he wanted to refuse immediately. But before he said the word "no", he suddenly thought of something and looked back at Xiao Xuan.
Xiao Xuan was waiting for the answer, fearing that the child was ignorant and would refuse this rare good thing. Years of fear and tossing and turning in the rebel army had tortured this woman to the point of being confused. She had no idea whether there would be a pie in the sky. Given Li Qishen's character, was it possible for him to return what he had already obtained to Li Taoqi's son
She only saw power, and she trembled all over when she thought of that not-too-distant future, and she even felt a little excited.
Xiao Xuan breathed deeply, a faint blush spread across her face. She looked at Li Cangbi encouragingly, signaling him to nod with her eyes.
"I..." Li Cangbi understood what she meant. After hesitating for a long time, he followed her wishes and looked up at Li Qishen. "I... am willing."
"Willing" instead of "wanting". At this point, he would rather give up his own idea and just want to make his mother happy. He is a rare good child, but it's a pity that he was born in the wrong family and can't be kept no matter what. After all, he is a child and has done nothing wrong. Li Qishen has some rare pity for him, and his tone is a little gentle: "Okay. But you have to change your mind and recognize me as your father."
"This..." Li Cangbi couldn't believe it, and looked back at Xiao Xuan for help, "But I have Aye, he... I can't do this."
"If you want to be the crown prince, this is the only way. As for mother, you have to change your words. I have a queen, and you have to call her mother." Li Qishen also glanced at Xiao Xuan, smiled slightly, and then retracted his gaze and continued to talk to Li Cangbi, "Now let me ask you again, are you willing?"
“… No! No way! He’s my son, he’s mine!” Xiao Xuan was anxious. She stood up hastily, staggered a few steps, tripped, and fell in front of Li Qishen.
Although he was wearing light armor and there was no hem to press against him, Li Qishen still felt a little disgusted and took two steps back unintentionally, leaving some space for her. Xiao Xuan did not notice the disgust Li Qishen showed, and just hugged Li Cangbi tightly, tightly tightening his waist, pressing against his cheek, and repeatedly repeating, "This is my son, this is my son..."
"Good boy, I will come to ask you again tomorrow." Li Qishen threw away the sword, did not linger any longer, turned around and went out, closing the door behind him.
Only Xiao Xuan and Li Cangbi were left in the room. The woman hugged her son, cheek to cheek, so tightly that Li Cangbi felt a little uncomfortable. But Xiao Xuan didn't feel it. Her heart had been empty for a long time. The only thing that could fill it was this son. But according to Li Qishen, Li Cangbi would also be taken away.
Ever since she accidentally heard her father discussing marriage with the eunuchs from the Eastern Palace, Xiao Xuan boldly made plans, squeezed out her elder sister, and married into the Eastern Palace herself; then she beat to death the palace maids who stuck to Li Taoqi to secure her position; and finally she successfully gave birth to Li Cangbi, the prince's only legitimate son and the future heir to the empire.
However, a rebellion broke out, the emperor fell, the prince died, and even she herself was humiliated and lost her innocence. The only son left had to call her someone else "A-niang".
So what has she been doing and what has she gained over the years, destroying the sisterhood and becoming estranged from her husband
Xiao Xuan felt cold all over, and suddenly realized that she seemed to be wrong, wrong from the beginning. But she couldn't admit it, because once she admitted it, she would really have nothing. She could only hold Li Cangbi tightly: "Bi'er, Bi'er, you are my son, my son..."
"Mother..." Li Cangbi had a feeling that Xiao Xuan was not normal, but he was still young and didn't know what was wrong, so he could only speak naively, "Mother, I... I don't actually want to be the prince. I have my father, and I also have my mother, who is my uncle..."
"Crown Prince..." Xiao Xuan repeated, her eyebrows suddenly sharp, and she held Li Cangbi's face, "If you don't want to be the crown prince, what else can you do?!"
"I..." Li Cangbi couldn't answer, "... I don't know."
There was really nothing they could do. Xiao Xuan had spent her first half of her life in the inner palace, and Li Cangbi had been raised in the Eastern Palace. They had never done anything to support themselves, so it was almost impossible for them to do anything to support themselves. Li Qishen was obviously not that kind-hearted. If he didn't kill them, he would be a human being, and he would never arrange a way out for the mother and son.
Li Cangbi could only nod and go to Chang'an City to be the prince, but from then on, he had nothing to do with Xiao Xuan. His mother was Xie Wangzhi, and the future queen mother was also Xie Wangzhi. Xiao Xuan was like a maid who borrowed her womb. During festivals, Li Cangbi could remember to pay homage to her, which was considered benevolent and filial.
She didn't accept it. She couldn't accept it. She absolutely couldn't.
Xiao Xuan's mind was in a mess, her eyes wandered, and she suddenly caught a glimpse of the sword on the ground. It was sharpened, and the moonlight shone through the window paper, illuminating the blade, which was so sharp that it seemed that just looking at it could cut her.
She looked at Li Cangbi, slowly reached out and grasped the hilt of the sword.
**
The blood splashed and splashed onto the window paper, causing the window to shake slightly. The blood quickly soaked through the window paper, which, soaked with blood and moonlight, seemed particularly thick, as if it would collapse at any time. The overflowing light penetrated the window paper and fell on the person, with a third of the color of blood, as if a handful of hot blood had also been splashed on it.
As expected, this is the ending.
Li Qishen sighed softly, turned his head, and saw Cui Shi. He was stunned for a moment: "Why are you here?"
"There's no rush for An Guangxing's matter, we can put it aside for now." Cui Shi touched his nose, "Your Majesty, now that everything is settled, are there any other arrangements?"
"No more." Li Qishen took one last look at the window paper and turned around. "Send someone in to clean up. Return to Chang'an City in three days."
The author has something to say: I still have to emphasize that Changsheng is a law evil, and good qualities such as kindness and compassion can appear or not, and they are always ranked at the back. Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution during 2019-12-08 00:06:09~2019-12-08 12:12:40~
Thanks to the little angels who cast mines: 1 for 2D sauce;
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: Wang Jiangchen 10 bottles; Li Ziya 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!