The Prodigal Son of Zhenguan

"Duke Ying holds military power. If the Tang Dynasty wins the Turkic war, Duke Ying's position in the court will surely rise. Moreover, if a father-in-law who commands the army stands behind you, even the industry in your house will be more stable."

When Old Cheng said this, Li Fu had a different opinion.

"Even if Duke Ying is not my father-in-law, I am still the nephew of the retired emperor and the cousin of your majesty." Li Fu said with a smile.

Cheng Yaojin smiled and shook his head.

"It's different. The royal family can't bring themselves to do anything for you openly." Cheng Yaojin said, "You and Duke Ying have become a family. Both sides are leveraging each other's power. Moreover, you are the younger generation, and Duke Ying is the elder. It is natural for the elder to do something for the younger generation. No one will laugh at it."

Li Fu just smiled and agreed with Cheng Yaojin's statement.

There is no need to argue with him on this topic. The industry under the Jingyang Palace is too much related to the interests of the royal family. With such a big interest involved, who would still have shame?

Li Shimin didn't want it, otherwise how could the Hundred Cavalry Division kill so many people in Huizhou?

I didn't see the noble families make a fuss in public, why? Because the noble families still have some face now.

Yes, only a little.

If there were more, they wouldn't do so many small actions behind the scenes in Huizhou.

A few days after Laba Festival, Li Fu entered the palace. He wanted to see Li Chengqian.

During Laba Festival this year, I met Li Chengqian once in the hunting ground. It was only half a year ago. It seemed that Li Chengqian had grown a lot taller. After the two met, Li Chengqian asked Li Fu to visit him in the East Palace in his spare time.

Li Fu agreed, so today, Li Fu took a carriage to the palace early in the morning.

When he arrived at the palace gate, Li Fu got off the carriage, wrapped his cloak tightly, and walked into the East Palace.

The eunuchs of the East Palace were waiting for Li Fu outside.

"How has the Crown Prince been doing in the East Palace in the past six months?" Li Fu asked.

"Your Highness, everything is fine with the Crown Prince," said the eunuch.

"Really?" Li Fu asked, "Have you been attending classes seriously and studying at ease?"

"Yes..."

Li Fu glanced at the eunuch, who looked nervous, and was afraid that he was lying.

What could Li Chengqian do to make the eunuchs of the East Palace so nervous?

Li Fu stopped.

The eunuch also stopped.

"You all stand here, I will go to the main hall by myself." Li Fu said.

"Your Highness, this..."

Li Fu strode towards the main hall of the East Palace.

The eunuch at the door of the main hall saw Li Fu and bowed.

"No need, stand here, don't move." Li Fu stopped them directly.

He went up the steps and walked to the door of the hall, but didn't rush to push the door in.

Although he had made an appointment with Li Chengqian to come to the palace, he did not tell Li Chengqian when he would come.

Today was a surprise inspection.

Standing at the door, through the gate, he could faintly hear the sound of children playing inside.

"Ake, you lost, come on, give me the money."

This was Li Tai's voice.

Then there was a rustling sound, which was not clear.

"Come again, come again."

This was Li Chengqian's voice.

Li Fu frowned.

? ? ?

Li Fu pushed open the door of the main hall.

The scene in front of him made him a little unbelievable.

Li Chengqian, Li Ke and Li Tai were actually playing mahjong together, and there was also a eunuch in the hall sitting at the mahjong table.

When the eunuch saw Li Fu's angry face, he was so scared that he knelt on the ground trembling.

"What are you doing?" Li Fu asked sternly.

Playing mahjong, and playing for money?

There were still some copper coins scattered on the table.

Just now, Li Tai asked Li Ke to give money, which should be because Li Ke lost the mahjong game.

"Uncle Wang, I, we..."

For a moment, the three children were a little at a loss.

"Playing mahjong? Playing for money? Is this what you should do?" Li Fu calmed his anger and asked the three children in front of him as calmly as possible.

"When did you start playing?" Li Fu asked: "Tell the truth, does your father know, or are you hiding here secretly playing, even your teacher doesn't know."

"Uncle Wang, I pulled them to play." Li Chengqian said: "Studying in the palace is too boring, so I thought about taking them to have some fun."

"Finding fun, what a fun." Li Fu laughed angrily.

As long as you don't play for money, this is considered fun.

Playing for money, what is this called, this is called gambling!

"Do you think playing mahjong is fun, or do you think winning money from playing mahjong is fun?" Li Fu asked, "Well? Answer me."

Li Fu's voice suddenly rose.The three children shuddered.

"That's right, it's more interesting if there's a little bit of luck." Li Chengqian said.

Li Fu closed his eyes and let out a long breath.

"You, clean up here first." Li Fu said to the eunuchs in the hall.

The eunuchs were trembling and looked at Li Chengqian secretly.

"What are you looking at the prince for! Didn't you hear me?!" Li Fu said sternly: "What? Can't I, the prince's tutor, speak well?"

The eunuchs then quickly put away the mahjong and the mahjong table.

Li Fu's stern eyes swept over the three children.

"You'd better pray that I can't find any problems when I check your homework." After Li Fu finished speaking, he walked to the steps above and sat down.

"Go, bring all your homework for the past three months! I'll look at it bit by bit!"

"Uncle Wang." Li Chengqian wanted to say something.

"Go and get it." Li Fu glared at Li Chengqian.

Mahjong was created to entertain idle people like Li Yuan, not to harm the future of the empire.

"You three, go get it yourself." Li Fu said calmly.

The three children slowly moved out of the main hall and returned to their respective study rooms.

"You two, stay." Li Fu said to the two eunuchs in the hall: "Also let the eunuchs guarding outside come in. Tell me the truth about the prince's situation in the past three months, when he studied, when he did his homework, and when he got together to make trouble. If anyone tells a lie, I will kill him!"

The child has become successful, and he still dares to hide in the main hall of the East Palace and play mahjong for money?

Li Fu was also naughty when he was a child, and he also played a lot of things with his friends.

But gambling, whether at home or at school, is something that you dare not touch.

Not to mention playing with money directly, you are not allowed to go to the game hall when you are in school.

In some game halls back then, playing coins could be exchanged for money, which was no different from gambling.

Now, three children sat on the mahjong table and started gambling?

They deserve to be punished.

The eunuchs were frightened by Li Fu. If this matter was brought to the attention of His Majesty, their fate would not be much better. It would be better for them to say whatever the King of Jingyang asked.

After all, they were also helpless. They dared not disobey what their master told them to do.

After listening to what the eunuchs said, Li Fu was even more angry.

It has been a month, and these three children are really capable.

Li Chengqian's teacher is not only Li Fu, but also other teachers did not notice it.

Even Li Shimin did not notice it when they were in the palace.

How busy is the government?

But think about it, the dismissal of officials also gave Li Shimin a headache for a long time. If he focused on other things, the Eastern Palace would not pay too much attention to him. Moreover, he thought that he could discipline Li Chengqian by finding a good teacher for him.

"Yu Zhining and Du Zhenglun often come to the Eastern Palace to teach the prince, right?" Li Fu asked, "Did you find anything during the class?"

"There were several times when the prince was absent-minded in class and was scolded by Yu Zhanshi and spanked."

"Yu Zhanshi also wrote to His Majesty that the prince was not concentrating on his studies, but His Majesty was too busy with the affairs of the previous dynasty and only said that he would discipline the prince in a while..."

"Later, Yu Zhanshi also wrote a letter of remonstrance and sent it to the prince. The prince just read it and threw it aside."

"Where is the letter of remonstrance?" Li Fu asked.

"In the study of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"Go and get them all."

"Yes." The eunuch responded and hurriedly left the main hall.

Li Chengqian's study was also in the East Palace, so he came back the fastest, holding his schoolwork, and the eunuchs behind him also held books and bamboo slips in their arms.

"Put it in front of me." Li Fu said.

Li Chengqian carefully put all the things in his arms beside Li Fu.

"Don't be nervous, the schoolwork is done well, I won't scold you in this regard." Li Fu said: "Sit down."

Li Chengqian nodded and sat on the steps next to Li Fu.

"You all go out first." Li Fu said to the eunuchs in the hall.

The eunuchs withdrew one after another, and after the eunuch who had just gone to get Yu Zhining's letter of remonstrance delivered the things, he also followed him out of the hall.

"By the way, Li Ke and Li Tai will be here soon. Let them wait outside the palace." Li Fu said, "I will let them in, and they will come in again. If I don't let them in, they will just stand outside."

"Yes..." the eunuch responded.

LiFu looked at Li Chengqian beside him.

"Do you have any objection to my doing this?"

Li Chengqian had never seen his uncle Wang's serious attitude before, so he quickly shook his head to show that he had no objection.

"That's right, if you have any objection, you have to endure it."

After Li Fu finished speaking, he picked up the letter of advice written by Yu Zhining to Li Chengqian.

"Have you read the letter written to you by Yu Zhining, the crown prince's secretary?" Li Fu asked.

Li Chengqian nodded.

"Read it again." Li Fu handed the letter of advice to Li Chengqian: "Read it twice more."

Although Yu Zhining was not a good person, the advice he wrote was more or less reasonable. Li Chengqian just glanced at it and threw it aside. It was indeed Li Chengqian who did something wrong.

The advice written to you by an elder, a wise man, and a teacher, you just threw it aside as garbage?

Is this the attitude that a student should have when seeking knowledge?

First of all, there is a problem with attitude.

"I haven't seen you for less than half a year, Cheng Qian, you indulge yourself?" Li Fu asked back: "However, no one can avoid making mistakes, especially since you are still young. Perhaps you don't know what is right and what is wrong clearly."

"Uncle Wang thinks that you can make mistakes, but if you know you made a mistake and correct it, you are still a good child."

"It is the nature of children to love playing. Uncle Wang can understand you. You, A Ke and Qing Que in the palace, study boringly, feel hard and depressed, and have no way to relieve it. Therefore, if there is something new around you, you will find it very interesting.

Maybe it's mahjong, maybe it's something else. When people are young, they are not perfect."

"But Cheng Qian, do you know what mistake you made?"

"I shouldn't have dragged A Ke and Qing Que to play mahjong here secretly."

"There is nothing wrong with playing mahjong in your spare time. You can even take them to Da'an Palace, play mahjong with your grandson."

"But everything has a limit. If you exceed this limit, it is wrong. You are the prince, do you lack money? A Ke and Qing Que are kings and highnesses. Do they lack money?"

"The eunuchs in your palace receive salaries every month, and they lack money."

"You take them to play with money, what is this called? This is called gambling in a group. You are not enjoying the fun of mahjong itself, but the bad stimulation brought to you by winning or losing money. This is the seriousness of this matter. "If you want to play in your spare time after school, why do you have to be sneaky? Just play openly." Li Fu said, "You let the eunuchs and guards in the palace guard outside, and you guys play inside. When someone comes to the East Palace, the eunuchs will send you a message, right?" If it weren't for the eunuchs leading the way at the palace gate that were found to be a little strange today, I'm afraid what Li Fu saw was that the three brothers were sitting in the house happily discussing the culture of the ancients with books in their hands. This is for them to pretend. Outside, Li Ke and Li Tai stood outside holding their own homework, followed by eunuchs, and dared not say a word. Uncle Wang asked them to stand outside, so they could only stand outside. Li Fu did not hide a series of actions in the East Palace. Not to mention that Li Ke and Li Tai also went back to their respective study rooms. Empress Changsun and Concubine Yang also got the news. In Lizheng Hall, the eunuch stood in front of Empress Changsun, bowing his body, and talked about what happened in the East Palace.

"At this moment, the two princes are still waiting at the door of the hall. The door is closed. I don't know what happened in the hall. King Jingyang and the prince are inside."

After listening, Empress Changsun nodded lightly.

"I know, you can leave." Empress Changsun said.

She didn't intend to intervene in this matter. She would wait until the evening when the children came to Lizheng Hall to talk about it in detail.

Since Huairen wanted to discipline the children, he must have his reasons. After all, he was the prince's tutor and was close to the children on weekdays.

The matter that could make him angry should not be small. At this time, although she was the queen and the mother of the children, she could not interfere in the matter of teachers managing students.

"By the way, has His Majesty heard the news?" Empress Changsun asked.

"Someone should report it." The eunuch said.

"Go and tell His Majesty, just tell him about this matter. I won't take care of it for now. We'll talk about everything in the evening."

"Yes." The eunuch bowed his head and responded.

Concubine Yang also got the news.

"My queen, the little prince is still standing at the door. What if he gets too hot in this hot weather? Don't you care?"

"Care? How? That's the Prince of Jingyang, the Prince's tutor." Concubine Yang said, "Isn't the Prince of Wei standing outside? The Queen didn't care either.

Disciplining the child is a good thing. Don't be nervous. Since Jingyang is...Prince Yang asked the two children to stand outside, so it was probably because the children did something wrong and made Prince Jingyang angry. "

"He and the prince were alone in the palace, and I'm afraid the situation on the prince's side was not much better."

Since it was to discipline the children for the good of the children, why should she intervene?

And it seemed that the children were willing to be disciplined, otherwise they would not be so honest. They would come back to get their homework when they were told to, and stand outside when they were told to stand outside.

If you make a mistake, standing outside for a while is not a punishment.

It is estimated that there will be more in a while.

Concubine Yang also noticed that her son was not right, but the child was unwilling to say it, and she was not easy to arrange people to go to the East Palace.

Although her children also studied and did their homework honestly, they always felt that something was wrong.

After today, I guess I know.

In the East Palace, Li Fu checked Li Chengqian's homework.

"I heard from the eunuch that you were beaten by the teacher. "Li Fu said as he watched.

"Yes, I was not paying attention in class, so the teacher spanked me."

"Does it hurt?" Li Fu asked.

"No." Li Chengqian said stubbornly, "I was wrong. I didn't take the class seriously."

"Oh, you have this ideological awareness." Li Fu laughed, "With this ideological awareness, you took your brothers to gamble? I think the spanking was not light."

Li Fu's tone was relaxed, but Li Chengqian felt bad, a little regretful and a little guilty.

Li Fu turned his head and glanced at Li Chengqian.

"Why, do you feel guilty? Or what do you feel?" Li Fu asked.

"A little, and I still regret it. I shouldn't have done this." Li Chengqian held the letter of advice written by Yu Zhining tightly in his hand.

"Regret, guilt, is this what you feel after being caught? "Li Fu said, "It seems that you are not really regretful or guilty. It's just that you are a little scared because I found out and caught you. You are afraid that you will tell your father about this matter, so you feel mixed emotions now. You sum it up as regret and guilt."

Li Chengqian opened his mouth and was speechless.

"Chengqian, your uncle Wang, I was also a child. Speaking of it, everyone has had the little thoughts and ideas of childhood. Everyone has experienced it. It's just that some people can't empathize and understand their childhood selves after growing up. When facing such little ideas, they use adult thinking to bring children into it, thinking that they know this, so what..."

"What mistakes should not be made, and so on."

"Adults and children are different. They stand at different angles and have different thoughts. We can't ask children and adults to have the same mature thoughts."

"It's excusable to make mistakes, but if you make mistakes, you should also be punished accordingly, understand? "Li Fu said: "Even if you are afraid, if you make a mistake, you must face it bravely, make up for it, and correct it. If you make a mistake in studying, you have a chance to make up for it. If your father makes a mistake in government, will he have a chance to make up for it? Even if he makes up for it, can the harm caused to the people of the world be erased?

Can people who lost their lives and property because of mistakes in government go back to the past?

Can the dead come back to life? "

Li Chengqian shook his head.

"If you want to make mistakes, you should make them early. "Li Fu said: "The wooden pillars outside the hall are like life. If you make a mistake, you nail it. After making up for it, or if you do something well to offset the previous mistake, you pull out the nail. This is the truth, but after the nail is pulled out, will the pillar still be the same as before? "

Li Chengqian shook his head.

It's different, it will leave traces.

Even if the surface traces are repaired, it's still destroyed.

Isn't that the way it is in government?

"Then Uncle Wang, how are you going to punish me?" Li Chengqian asked weakly.

"Punish you..." Li Fu smiled and shook his head: "I have seen all your homework. There is a big difference between being attentive and perfunctory."

"Go and call your two brothers in." Li Fu said.

Li Chengqian stood up, walked to the door of the hall, and opened it.

"A Ke, Qing Que, come in." Li Chengqian said.

The two people at the door looked at each other, and then looked Li Chengqian up and down.

It seems that they didn't get beaten.

The two were in a nervous mood, and came to Li Fu with a lot of homework.

"Uncle Wang..."

"Uncle Wang..."

"Put down your homework, you two sit aside, I'll check it first. "Li Fu said.

An hour later, the homework was checked."You have to rewrite the homework for the past three months. Do you have any objections?" Li Fu asked.

Li Chengqian shook his head quickly.

He still remembered what his uncle Wang said just now.

There was no point in having any objections.

It would be better to just obey honestly.

Li Ke and Li Tai had long been frightened by the serious Li Fu. Seeing Li Chengqian shaking his head, they also said they had no objections.

"That's good." Li Fu smiled and said, "Come on, clean up this place and bring up the mahjong table just now."

The three brothers Li Chengqian looked at each other.

What is this...?

"Open the door!" Li Fu said, "Get the food and drinks ready."

The eunuch did not dare to refute and prepared according to what Li Fu said.

After the mahjong table was brought up, Li Fu took the first seat.

"Come on, the three of you, sit down, let's play."

"Uncle Wang... this... isn't good?"

"There's nothing wrong with it. Why, now that I let you play mahjong openly, you are afraid?" Li Fu said, "Is that all your courage? The three of you, one by one, count it, and we'll talk about it if you can beat me."

The three brothers Li Chengqian sat down in hesitation.

A smile appeared on Li Fu's face.

Face the storm.

Playing mahjong with Li Yuan, not counting the cards yourself, is just to make the old man happy.

Playing with you three kids, haha, I won't kill you.