It was another four days. After Li Hong stayed in Prince Pu's Mansion for four days, he leisurely returned to the East Palace before night fell.
In the past few days, Li Hong had not even been to the front yard of Prince Pu's Mansion. He rarely even went out to the main hall of Prince Pu's Mansion. He just stayed in the main hall every day, accompanied by Bai Chun.
There were stacks of memorials in the imperial court, whether it was from Shangshu Province or Li Zhengdian in the East Palace. Some memorials were even sent directly to Prince Pu's Mansion, but Li Hong never even glanced at them.
In the East Palace, because of Li Hong's return, An Xiaohe and Pei Wanying had more smiles on their faces and became less relaxed.
This trip was originally just to find Chen Qinghan, but they did not expect that His Highness the Crown Prince would be away for several days. However, when they received the notice from His Highness the Crown Prince, Pei Wanying and An Xiaohe were very happy. At least His Highness the Crown Prince lived there. When I was in Prince Pu's Mansion, I still remembered them and informed them.
Li Ye and Li Ye were still in the palace. The two little guys who had just learned how to crawl were now actively struggling to learn to walk. They just stood up tremblingly with their short legs, because they couldn't master it yet. He shifted his weight, making a sound like a sigh, and then fell onto the thick blanket.
But even so, the two little guys still had strong and innocent smiles on their faces, and they continued to practice walking on two legs happily.
Li Lingyue, who was about to turn thirteen, took her favorite toys to the Penglai Hall with the palace maid. Watching the two little guys on the bed talking to each other, Li Lingyue, who didn't understand, actually joined in for the first time. .
He even distributed his toys to Li Ye and Li Ye fairly and fairly in a serious manner.
But it was obvious that no matter how Li Lingyue distributed them, she could never satisfy the two little guys, so every time before she finished distributing the toys, the two parties' toys were thrown to each other face to face with their two little hands, and then mixed together.
Li Lingyue took the trouble to pick up the toys thrown out of bed by the two little guys, and then continued to distribute them to others, talking to herself, regardless of whether others listened or not.
Li Ye is a boy, but because he was born a quarter of an hour later than Li Ye, he can only take the position of his younger brother. This makes Li Lingyue more partial to him. In the eyes of others, toys are obviously more important than his sister Li Ye. Much more.
"Oh, I have really grown up after all." Li Zhi looked at Li Lingyue, looking more and more like a grown-up girl.
Wu Mei flipped through the memorial in her hand. Li Hong had been huddled in Prince Pu's Mansion these days and could not come out. Although the affairs of the court were at the end of the year and were not major matters, Li Hong, as the prince of the country, could not let go like this. No matter.
As soon as Li Zhi read the memorial, he said he had a headache and couldn't stand it. In addition, these requested memorials were all arranged by the royal family members on the first day of the year and the memorials of the royal family to worship heaven and worship the gods on the first day of the year, so it was natural for Wu Mei to hold it in her hand and read through it.
"Why me? Li Hong should be the one to worship heaven and ancestors, but now he is... That's not right, he is still the prince now." Li Zhi looked at Li Lingyue playing happily with his grandson, and almost forgot that he was still the emperor. .
Wu Mei rolled her eyes at Li Zhi, put down the memorial she was reading, and then said solemnly: "Have you not noticed that Li Hong has changed now?"
"Are you talking about his desire for power?" Li Zhi looked calm and said calmly: "When I came to the throne, why did my uncle Chang Sun Wuji and other Guanlong Group forces be dismantled by us? Li Hong supervised the country for more than two years. , having such a mentality now... Well, it is already commendable. "
Wu Mei was silent, and signaled the palace maid to put away the memorial, picked up the tea cup and then put it down again. His Majesty was right.
The prince who had just ascended the throne was extremely wary of everyone and everything around him. When His Majesty ascended the throne, the Guanlong Group headed by Changsun Wuji controlled the court, although it did not pose any threat to the throne or the country. Threats, but still constraining His Majesty's political ambitions, either overtly or covertly.
That's why they had to choose to overthrow the Guanlong Group in the court struggle. The influence of the Guanlong Group headed by Changsun Wuji on the court allowed His Majesty to have complete control over the court.
Nowadays, although Li Hong has not shown any hostility towards himself or His Majesty, or any intention to eliminate them, it is already known to everyone that he has the power to implement his ambitions in the court.
In the past two years, the court has been re-adjusted, and all government offices are now under control. It can be said that the world now belongs to Li Hong.
"I am planning to meditate on Prince Li Hong after Yuan Day." Li Zhi suddenly said in silence.
"Li Hong doesn't know how. Even though he is acting a little violent now, he still... won't force his grandfather to become a Buddhist monk like the wise brother..." Wu Mei's eyes lit up, and after thinking about it, she comforted Li Zhi, deeply afraid of His Majesty. I thought that Li Hong would force him to take the Zen position like the late emperor.
"I know Li Hong won't, but I don't want to see the orderly court now destroyed by me. The Tang Dynasty is now at peace. Although there are occasional small frictions, Li Hong must know the form better than us. These two Whether he is governing the court or the world, it has been shown that Li Hong will be a wise king, even a monarch comparable to the late emperor. If he does not abdicate, I am afraid that Li Hong will also appear when I first ascended the throne..." Li Zhi looked at Li Lingyue. Carefully covering the two little guys with quilts, they suddenly stopped talking.
"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince asks for an audience." Hua Ji appeared respectfully in front of Li Zhi and Wu Mei and said in a respectful voice.
"What's he doing here at this time?" Wu Mei asked reflexively, why did he suddenly come to the palace this late at night.
"Your Highness didn't say anything, slave..."
"Humph, you don't dare to ask, right? It's simply lawless. I wanted to meditate on him just now, but Queen, look at this, is this a bit of a rule? Who dares to mess with it? He can come to my harem whenever he wants. Just leave." Li Zhi complained aimlessly.
Wu Mei, on the other hand, ignored the complainer and said to Hua Ji, "Did you hear that? Your Majesty obviously doesn't want to see him, so let him go back."
"Yes, Queen." Huaji's face suddenly turned bitter. It's easy to ask a god, but it's hard to send a god away. What's more, this god came by himself. The god who came on his own initiative was rejected. Huaji didn't know what was waiting for him. What consequences, but he knew that he was determined not to get any benefit from His Highness the Crown Prince.
Li Zhi looked at Wu Mei with a relaxed expression. Unexpectedly, Wu Mei refused directly. He couldn't help but snorted and said to Li Lingyue who came over: "Let your brother come in. I'll wait for him in the study."
"Yes, Father." Li Lingyue didn't know what was going on. She looked at her mother's unconcerned expression and walked towards the entrance of Penglai Hall.
The little guy has grown a lot taller. She is no longer the little girl who cried when Li Hong teased her. Now she is slim, gentle and generous, with a pair of bright eyes that still reveal the same naughty temperament as before. The smell is in sharp contrast to the nobility and elegance that a princess should exude.
"Hey, who am I talking about? It turns out that it was Princess Taiping who greeted me in person. It's rare." Li Hong smiled and stretched out his hand to pull the neat hair on Li Lingyue's head like before, but he didn't want to be fooled by Li Lingyue in front of him. He made a face, and then quickly escaped.
"Father said he was waiting for you in the study, why don't you go quickly?" Li Lingyue blinked her bright eyes, obviously warning Li Hong of something.
"What's wrong? Father is in a bad mood?" Li Hong asked in a low voice as he walked.
"I don't know. When I was coaxing Li Ye and the others just now, I vaguely heard that my father planned to meditate on you after the first day of the year, but..."
"But what?" Li Hong didn't expect that this little girl would also be appetizing.
"But when you came to the harem so late, my father was very angry and said that you didn't understand etiquette, so... you'd better report something important to my father, otherwise... Haha, you understand."
"I know who you are, but you are the only one with many evil thoughts." Li Hong tapped Li Lingyue's jade-white forehead like lightning, which immediately caused Li Lingyue to scream and shout out the word "mother and empress" to complain.
Li Hong was too lazy to pay attention to her, fearing that she would threaten him. He hurriedly pushed away Li Lingyue who was blocking his way, and followed the palace maid straight to the study.
"My son has met my father." Li Hong said easily with a faint smile on his face.
Li Zhi looked at Li Hong strangely. Although the prince in front of him was still the prince he saw in the East Palace two days ago, he felt that something was different.
"What's the matter? Why are you running around here so late at night?" Li Zhi was a little wary. He didn't know what the prince wanted to do when he came so late.
"I have something, I thought for a while, and it would be better to tell you first." Li Hong also gave up, but he was pushed on the back of his head by someone's finger.
"No one wants to play riddles with you at night. If you have anything to say, tell me quickly." Wu Mei quietly appeared behind Li Hong and said with a cold face.
Wu Mei, who had been meditating outside for a long time, was still a little worried. During this period, the father and son, who were too angry, were discussing matters alone in the study, so after thinking about it, she followed in.
"My son, I have met my mother." Li Hong stood up and saluted again.
As the saying goes, people feel refreshed when happy events happen. Li Hong's expression and attitude today also made Wu Mei feel a little surprised. The prince in front of her now seemed to have changed from the prince in the West Market Teahouse a few days ago. It seemed that something had changed. … It’s like seeing the prince from two years ago again.
"What's wrong? Is there something you can't come to the palace to talk about tomorrow? Do you need to come here in a hurry so late?" Wu Mei looked at the changes in Li Hong's body, and her tone became much gentler.
"It's not a big deal, but it is definitely a good thing for the people of the Tang Dynasty. So... you said, is this a good thing for my father and you, and for our Li family?" Li Hong looked at it. The two of them sat down, but no one motioned for them to sit down, so they had to take the initiative to sit down and said.
(End of chapter)