Back to the prosperous Tang Dynasty to be the emperor

Chapter 21 New and Old Hate (1)

The trees in winter are already bleak, and there are only sparse branches left. It is very easy to prune. Even if the young eunuchs are not too dexterous, it doesn't take too much time to finish the job. , but seeing that the arbor with three-pronged side branches has completely turned into a smooth main pole, pointing straight to the sky, it faintly gives people a sharp feeling like a sharp sword piercing the sky, which is hard to compare with the surrounding environment. It is harmonious, and it is extraordinarily eye-catching and abrupt.

"Does the seventh brother know how to garden?" After all the eunuchs had finished their work and dispersed, Li Hong, who had been silent all along, glanced sideways at Li Xian, who had a blank face, and asked with a sudden smile.

"Your brother is stupid, so please enlighten me." Li Xian didn't understand gardening, but he knew Li Hong's intentions in allowing him to observe "gardening". Shaking his head a little blankly, he replied earnestly.

"I can't talk about giving advice. Speaking of it, I am a layman, but there is one thing I know as a brother. The so-called tree cannot be cultivated, just like jade cannot be carved. Does the seventh brother think so?" Li Hong looked at the arbor in the garden with a smile that was not a smile, and said calmly.

"Brother Prince's lesson is that the younger brother should keep it in his heart and dare not forget it." Hearing this, Li Xian's heart twitched involuntarily, but he didn't dare to bring it to his face, he could only bow The body agreed.

"Seventh brother doesn't need to be like this, it's just my brother joking, that's all, let's not talk about it, it's almost noon, and seventh brother will have dinner with brother here, let's talk some gossip." Li Hong obviously Satisfied with Li Xian's respectful attitude, he smiled and waved his hand, said something casually, then walked back to the main seat in the pavilion and sat down.

"My younger brother is about to ask the prince's elder brother for advice, so it's disrespectful." Li Xian made a grimace, and replied with a smile, walked behind Li Hong's next sons, and sat down with a smile on his face.

"Oh, the seventh brother is still so naughty." Seeing Li Xian's behavior, Li Hong couldn't help shaking his head and laughing, and then applauded, and the eunuchs and maids who were waiting beside him were busy serving all kinds of wine and food When they came up, it was filled with the couples in front of the two brothers. As soon as the singing and dancing were performed, the two brothers chatted about it.

Li Hong has always been weak and not good at drinking. Although Li Xian measures well, he has no special interest in the wine of this era. The atmosphere of drinking this wine is not very lively, just chatting romantically. It seemed that they had a very happy conversation, but in fact, there was a faint invisible barrier between them, and there was no harmony between the two brothers in the past.

His face was smiling, but his heart was hurting. Facing the redeeming affection in Li Hong's words, Li Xian could only pretend to be stupid again, but deep in his heart was an unspeakable sadness—— In people's eyes, Li Hongxiang is known for his benevolence and filial piety, and his personality is a bit soft, but Li Xian knows that those are just appearances. In fact, Li Hong is not only knowledgeable and talented, but his virtuousness and ability are not inferior to Li Xian's. He is very assertive, round on the outside and strong on the inside. If you really count, he can be said to be the most suitable heir to the throne among the four brothers. The only shortcoming is that his body is a little weaker. Li Xianshi has nothing to do with inheriting the throne. Unconvinced, if possible, Li Xian would really like to help this elder brother who has always been kind to him, but unfortunately, in the face of the cruel reality, this is just an extravagant wish.

Can Li Hong survive to become emperor?The answer is absolutely impossible, not because of his incompetence, but because he was too capable and blocked Wu Meiniang's way - Li Hong was the prince at the age of three, and he was the supervisor of the country at the age of eight. With nearly ten times of experience in supervising the country, a lot of achievements have been made during the period. He is deeply supported by the officials and also won the favor of Emperor Gaozong. He is regarded as the best candidate for the successor. If there is no accident, after a hundred years of Emperor Gaozong, Li Hong will succeed Ascension is basically a matter of certainty, no matter how much Li Xian jumps around, he will never be able to change this trend, but Wu Meiniang can. Wu Meiniang, who wants to take charge of the government, absolutely cannot tolerate the existence of a strong prince, with Li Hong's personality In other words, he is absolutely no match for the ruthless Empress Wu, and death is inevitable.

Turn the tide?It's just a joke. Li Xian is very self-aware about this. Even though he has already known the direction of history, he never thinks that he can be great enough to stand in the way. Obviously, the accumulation of strength requires time, and time is what Li Xian lacks the most. He dare not and is unwilling to gamble his fate on Li Hong, otherwise, it is very likely that he will die. Both jade and stone were destroyed, therefore, in the face of Li Hong's high expectations, all Li Xian could do was pretend to be stupid, no matter how painful he was in his heart, there was nothing he could do.

The two brothers are both smart people, and even if they don't say anything, they can understand each other. As the saying goes, they don't speculate. But the distance between the cups and cups was getting farther and farther, although it was not to the point where there was nothing to say, but the joyful heart was gone, it was only about half an hour before and after, and Li Xian, who had no intention of staying longer, found him He left at the beginning, and Li Hong didn't want Li Xian to talk about it in detail, so a dialogue between brothers ended hastily.

"Your Highness."

Outside the Chunhua Gate, Gao Miao, who had just used his dry food, was laughing and joking with the guards of the Prince of Zhou's residence. Suddenly, he caught sight of Li Xianzheng coming out of the palace gate from the corner of his eyes. , let out a soft call, although he didn't ask any more questions, but his face was full of doubts, probably because in the past, whenever Li Xian entered the East Palace, he always had to spend a long time before returning with satisfaction, but today he left early, Gao Miao couldn't help being extremely puzzled.

"Hmm." Although he didn't really break up with the crown prince when he entered the East Palace this time, he actually parted ways. Therefore, although Li Xian's expression was as usual, his heart was full of sadness. When he came forward, he was too lazy to waste his words. He just glanced at Gao Miao blankly, and said noncommittally, but without the slightest pause on his feet, he strode towards the carriage. Not daring to ask any more questions, he hurriedly turned around and followed behind Li Xian.

"Go out of the city and go to Qingfengguan in the east of the city"

Li Xian was in a bad mood, and he really didn't want to go back home. When he was thinking about where to go, he suddenly remembered Li Chunfeng who was mentioned in the chat with Gao Miao a few days ago, so he gave a casual order, and then bent down Into the compartment.

Qingfeng Temple is located three miles east of Chang'an City. It is said to be a Taoist temple, but there are absolutely no pilgrims. Therefore, the temple is the residence of Li Chunfeng, the current Taishi Ling. , "Because of inferior rank, he was unable to achieve ambition, and he abandoned his official position to become a Taoist priest." Li Bo was quite literary, and he called himself "Huang Guanzi". Li Chunfeng studied literature with his father since he was a child. At the age of nine, he went to Jingyun, Nantuo Mountain, Henan Province, to worship Yuan Daochang as his teacher, and then wandered around the world. He returned to his hometown at the age of 17, and was recommended by Li Shimin's friend Liu Wenjing to become Li Shimin's counselor, and then worshiped under Yuan Tiangang's family. , Intensively studied the number of spells, formulated the calendar, wrote "Tui Bei Tu", made many achievements in his life; skilled in martial arts, good at swordsmanship, participated in the "Xuanwu Gate Change", personally killed several giants of the world, and has been in office for forty years. In the past three dynasties, the tired official moved to Taishiling. He was a low-key person. Although he served as a high-ranking official in the court, he never interacted with the officials in private. , is often criticized by people, however, the three emperors are all excellent, which is actually an anomaly in the officialdom of the early Tang Dynasty.

"Your Highness, please wait a moment, this servant will call the door."

The snowy road was slippery and difficult. Li Xian and his party set off from the East Palace and arrived at the "Qingfeng Temple" after walking for more than an hour. Gao Miao carefully waited for Li Xian to get out of the carriage, while carefully suggesting.

"Well, it's better for me to go in person." Li Xian's small body was already a bit too much for the bumpy road, but he didn't want to lose his courtesy, so he waved his hand, rejecting Gao Miao's proposal, and waved his hand. The guards were waiting in place, but he himself walked towards the closed gate of Qingfengguan with his numb legs. Seeing this, Gao Miao hurriedly followed behind Li Xian.

"Immeasurable Heavenly Venerable, is there something for the benefactor?"

When he got the view, Gao Miao hurried a few steps, grabbed the front, reached out and grabbed the door knocker, and knocked heavily a few times. After a while, the door creaked open and a gap was opened. A man about thirteen or fourteen years old The [-]-year-old Xiaodaotong flashed out from the crack of the door, squinted at Li Xian's master and servant, and then at the royal family's chariot not far away, but he didn't panic in the slightest, he just shook his head and spoke calmly asked.

"Little Wang Li Xian, I'm here to ask Li Taishi to see him, and I ask the little master to report on his behalf." Li Xian saw that this boy had an extraordinary demeanor, but he didn't dare to underestimate this person, so he introduced himself with a smile.

"It turned out to be His Royal Highness Zhou, and Yu Jizi, the poor Daoist, was rude. Please forgive me, Your Highness." Xiao Daotong nodded again and said with a smile: "My teacher said that there must be a distinguished guest today, and I told Xiao Dao that if the distinguished guest arrives , just enter the door by yourself, there is no need to report."

No way, we came here on a whim, could it be that Li Chunfeng can even figure this out?Hearing Yujizi's words, Li Xian couldn't help being stunned, looked at Xiaodaotong suspiciously, and after a while, nodded his head and said: "If that's the case, then Xiao Wang will be impolite, and still Ask the priest to lead the way for you."

"Please, Your Highness." Yu Jizi didn't say any more nonsense, just smiled and waved his hand, signaling Li Xian to follow him.

The Qingfeng Temple is not big, so it only entered the courtyard three times. After walking this way, it didn't take long to reach the backyard. Just now, I turned around a screen wall, and I saw an old man and a young man sitting in a small stone pavilion without a word. ——The old man sat with his back to Li Xian, and he would not be able to see his face clearly for a while, but the young man was facing the gate of the courtyard. His face turned pale in an instant.

(End of this chapter)