No taboos in the world

Chapter 549 Li Zhi finally takes action
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty has summoned me."

Hearing the eunuch's voice, Li Qingchen put down his brush, raised the corners of his lips slightly when he looked up, and his smile was like a ray of sunshine that shone throughout the palace.

"What's the matter?"

"Your Highness, please forgive me. I really didn't know."

"It doesn't matter."

Li Qingchen rubbed his stiff wrist and stood up.

The old eunuch led the way sideways, following closely.

A moment later, in front of the Taiji Hall, Li Qingchen asked for a meeting.

After a few breaths, Li Zhi's voice came from the hall: "Come in."

After entering, Li Qingchen saw Li Zhi reviewing memorials, so he bowed and stood quietly aside.

for a long time.

Li Zhi put down the memorial and raised his head.

"You're already fifteen, it's time to take some responsibility."

Hearing this, Li Qingchen showed no sadness or joy on his face, he just bowed respectfully and said: "I am still young and need to learn a lot. But if you have any instructions, I will do my best to complete them."

Although this answer did not seem to be friendly, there was nothing wrong with it. However, when Li Zhi heard this, he frowned in dissatisfaction.

All I can say is that the prejudice in people’s hearts is indeed a huge mountain.

It has been a year since Li Zhi ascended the throne, and the affairs of the court have been properly sorted out. Except that the power of his uncle Changsun Wuji has some influence on him as the emperor, all other things are going smoothly.

Under such circumstances, Li Zhi's attention has recently shifted to the harem.

Although Li Zhi couldn't be said to hate the queen, he definitely didn't like her either.

If there were no unexpected circumstances, he would not have had any other thoughts about his queen, because although Crown Prince Li Qingchen was not likable, Li Zhi had to admit that Li Qingchen was indeed a very smart, humble, studious and resourceful son.

Such a prince would be an extremely suitable heir in any dynasty.

What is even more rare is that although Li Qingchen has been in office in the Eastern Palace for a year, he has never demanded or controlled power.

This also eased Li Zhi's worries about Li Qingchen when he was the crown prince.

The civil and military officials in the court were very convinced of Li Zhi and were also satisfied with the crown prince.

Especially those civil officials who were arranged by Li Zhi to be the prince's teachers, each of them wanted to praise the prince to the utmost.

Logically speaking, everything should be peaceful and harmonious.

But the problem is that most of the time, things in this world are always unreasonable.

Perhaps it was because Li Shimin passed away many years later, so Li Zhi's longing for someone became extremely deep.

Three months ago, Li Zhi brought Wu Meiniang back from Ganye Temple.

This matter was certainly not publicized, but it could not be covered up either.

But I don't know what kind of ideological work Li Zhi and his ministers did behind the scenes, so that even Zhangsun Wuji did not raise any objections.

The stone was thrown into the lake, but there was no splash or ripples.

Is this reasonable?

Of course Li Qingchen also knew about this.

Naturally, he would not deliberately snoop around in his father's harem, as that would be a huge taboo.

But his biological mother, Queen Wang, couldn't help but complain in front of her good son.

Queen Wang was not stupid. Perhaps her abilities and skills were not as good as those of Empress Changsun, but as the daughter of the Wang family of Taiyuan, she had naturally received careful training from aristocratic family.

It's just that in front of her own son, she doesn't need to worry too much.

What's more, her son has been loved by Emperor Taizong since he was a child, and now he is the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace. She personally no longer has any more extravagant hopes.

Even Li Zhi's occasional indifference to her was something she could accept. However, it was just that Li Zhi brought a woman back from outside, but that woman was actually a woman in Taizong's harem, which made Queen Wang a little unbearable.

She was not jealous of Wu Meiniang. To be honest, there was nothing about Wu Meiniang at that moment that was worthy of her jealousy.

However, as the queen, besides being the nominal mother of the country, she is also the legitimate mistress of the harem.

Li Zhi's behavior was not only disrespectful to her, but also humiliated Queen Wang. He even deliberately stepped on her twice and spat on her.

Because if foreign officials or the common people knew about this, in addition to criticizing Li Zhi, they would also gossip about Queen Wang in secret.

Queen Wang didn't care how many women Li Zhi had, or which one of the harem he favored.

But she was also very unwilling to take the blame for Li Zhi's recklessness.

There isn't much affection left in the first place, and you're letting others take the blame. Isn't that bullying?
If it were any other woman, it might be okay, but Queen Wang was special.

Her origin as Wang from Taiyuan is only one factor; her biological son Li Qingchen is her greatest support.

Not to mention anything else, just looking at the civil and military officials in the court today, how many of them have not been deliberately guided by Emperor Taizong to establish a good relationship with Li Qingchen?
In other words, even if Li Zhi is extremely dissatisfied with Li Qingchen now, it will be impossible for him to depose the crown prince smoothly!
Emperor Taizong has passed away, and his life has long been put to rest.

The value of this great Emperor Wen of the Tang Dynasty is gradually increasing as the days go by.

In the eyes of many civil and military officials, Li Qingchen is the best legacy left to them by Emperor Taizong.

Are you talking about Li Zhi?

Of course not Li Zhi!
Because he had become the emperor, in the process of stabilizing the court, the civil and military officials had also stabilized their official positions and family interests under this boss.

At this time, what they have to consider is naturally the future.

To put it bluntly, he is the next emperor.

Li Qingchen is the best choice, no doubt about it.

Not to mention that he had the endorsement of Emperor Taizong, even if he didn't, none of Li Zhi's other sons were qualified to compete with Li Qingchen in terms of appearance, temperament, knowledge or character.

In such a situation, even if you are the emperor, it would be difficult to depose or enthrone someone without a legitimate reason.

If he really did that, Li Qingchen could guarantee that Changsun Wuji would definitely be the first one to jump out and scold him.

He should not have too good a relationship with his great uncle Changsun Wuji.

But as I said before, things in this world are often unreasonable and illogical.

Li Zhi summoned him today, seemingly intending to add more responsibilities to Li Qingchen and share the power with him.

But in fact, he was also looking for opportunities for himself.

If Li Qingchen doesn't do more, Li Zhi will probably never find an opportunity in his life.

And the fundamental reason why he wanted this opportunity was very simple.

Wu Meiniang is pregnant!

Of course, this is just one of the reasons.

More important than Wu Meiniang, Li Zhi wanted to start limiting the influence of the aristocratic families in the court.

The first to be affected were the Queen's maternal family - the Wang family of Taiyuan.

In this way, Queen Wang and Li Qingchen can only be regarded as innocent bystanders.

But Li Zhi is not innocent either.

He could certainly restrict the aristocratic families for the sake of the continuation of the Tang Dynasty, but restricting the aristocratic families did not necessarily require taking action against the queen and the prince.

After all, he still disliked the Queen and the Crown Prince, and the backgrounds of the Queen and the Crown Prince were exactly what he wanted to target.

You can say it was for the Tang Dynasty, or you can say it was far-fetched.

In short, he is about to start.

"Ashina Helu of the Western Turkic Khanate declared himself the Khan of Shaboluo." Li Zhi picked up a memorial. "Ashina Helu led his troops to attack Tingzhou. I intend to send troops to fight them. You will follow the army as a military supervisor."

(End of this chapter)