Chang'an, East Palace.
Snapped!
Snapped!
The two arrows left the bowstring and hit the two arrow targets respectively.
One of them hit the mark, the other just missed the mark.
"Fourth brother, when it comes to archery, I am far inferior to you!"
Li Jiancheng wiped the sweat from his forehead, gathered his bow and arrows, and said with a smile,
"I won't play any more. I can't beat you no matter what!"
"I'm afraid that only my second brother can compete with you."
The King of Qi Li Yuanji next to him curled his lips when he heard this.
"Li Shimin? His archery skills are just like that!"
He snorted coldly,
"Most of them are boasting. They say they are the best among the three armies, but I don't believe it."
"In real comparison, I will definitely win!"
Li Jiancheng laughed and patted his shoulder.
"Okay! As a brother, I appreciate your confidence!"
"Let's go, take a rest."
When the two of them walked under the eaves, a maid brought them iced face towels and iced watermelon.
"Speaking of which, my second brother suddenly ran away to Qinling Mountains for some unknown reason."
Li Jiancheng wiped his face and said casually,
"He also took his family and his family with him. Eight hundred soldiers took them all away. I don't know what kind of medicine he was selling in his gourd."
Li Yuanji also sat down and took a bite of iced watermelon.
He chewed twice and sneered:
"The eight hundred soldiers were not equipped with weapons or armor, and they left in a hurry."
"It's probably because he was frustrated and went hunting in the Qinling Mountains to relax. After all, this time my father asked him to go and become a vassal. He definitely wasn't happy!"
Li Jiancheng nodded slightly.
"If he can just give up, he might as well become an idle prince traveling around."
He said softly,
"If we can do this, it will save us brothers from fighting."
Li Jiancheng didn't want to fight from the bottom of his heart. He just wanted to take over the throne safely and be a conservative king.
This is his positioning of himself.
"Avoid the fight? Brother, are you really going to let him go?"
Li Yuanji sneered and said,
"But don't forget how he set you up this time."
"Let me tell you, we must never give up any opportunity to suppress Li Shimin! We should beat him like a drowned dog!"
"Otherwise, as soon as he has a chance to breathe, he will definitely bite you back!"
Li Jiancheng frowned slightly.
"Don't say it so harshly..." he scolded.
"True advice is offensive to the ears."
Li Yuanji shrugged,
"I'm just telling the truth."
"Just watch, he won't be able to calm down for long, and he will definitely have evil plans in his mind."
"Even if you successfully ascend the throne and become emperor by then, do you believe that as soon as your father dies, he will rebel against you?"
"I know the second brother very well. He is this kind of person."
With these words, Li Shimin was reduced to a ferocious and greedy wolf.
"Okay! Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's talk about the rest later."
Li Jiancheng waved his hand and turned to say,
"I actually want to know what my father meant when he was in the court that day."
"As for punishment, he only punished Tiance Mansion by joining the army, and he didn't go into details at all."
"Let's just say that there is no punishment. That sentence 'The King of Qin should be a vassal' will probably keep my second brother awake all night long."
"You must know that the second brother holds important court positions such as Shangshu Ling and Zhongshu Ling. If he becomes a vassal, he will become a bare prince and nothing else..."
"His old man's thoughts...are really unpredictable."
He stroked his chin gently, a look of confusion on his face.
…
Tai Chi Palace, Hai Chi.
When the weather is hot, Li Yuan likes to go boating on the lake to cool down.
On the deck, the two people stood beside Li Yuan, bending slightly, lowering their heads and saying nothing.
"This guy just can't help but show off."
Li Yuan rubbed his fair skin and said distressedly,
"Look, after being exposed to the sun for a while, it turns red."
"If I stay out in the sun for two more days, I'm afraid I'll get dark."
Pei Ji beside him quickly stepped forward to cover Li Yuan from the sun and said:
"Your Majesty, your dragon body is precious, so you should rest inside the cabin."
Li Yuan smiled slightly.
"Pei Qing is the most considerate."
He praised and said towards the cabin,
"Stop the boat and get three pairs of fishing rods. I want to have a fishing competition with my two beloved ladies!"
After giving an order, the cabin attendant immediately brought up three pairs of exquisite fishing rods and fishy bait with a slight fishy smell.
"Pei Qing, Xiao Qing, sit down."
Li Yuan took the lead in occupying the best fishing position and said with a smile.
Pei Ji and Xiao Yu responded and sat down with poles.
The three of them were fishing together on the sea pond.
"I've been a little tired lately. I've thanked you for the hard work in the court."
Li Yuan yawned and said lazily,
"What happened recently?"
As the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan was actually very slack, but he didn't think so.
He believed that he had mastered the essence of Taoism's "governing by doing nothing" and his methods were comparable to those of Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty.
To govern a country, you don’t have to do anything. As long as you hire the right people, they will naturally take care of everything.
You see, if we keep ignoring things like this, isn't Datang's territory growing more and more? The court is running very well, isn't it?
"Your Majesty, everything is business as usual in the center. Except for some local disasters, there is nothing important."
Xiao Yu reported,
"It's all drought, banditry and the like. I've given orders to pacify them."
Li Yuan nodded slightly.
"Is there anything going on in the inner court? King Qin... um."
He paused for a moment and asked,
"What is King Qin doing recently?"
"Back to Your Majesty, King Qin left Chang'an a few days ago and entered the Qinling Mountains."
Pei Ji rushed to speak,
"All the soldiers from the Tiance Mansion were also taken away and entered the Qinling Mountains. I don't know what activities they were doing."
Li Yuan frowned and the fishing rod in his hand shook slightly, scaring away the fish lingering next to the bait.
"Have all the soldiers been taken away?"
He frowned and said,
"What have you been doing?"
A trace of unhappiness arose in Li Yuan's heart.
"Back to Your Majesty, His Highness King Qin should have just gone hunting."
Xiao Yu quickly asked for help.
"His soldiers were not equipped with any armor or weapons. They just accompanied King Qin on hunting trips in the mountains."
"After all, the Qinling Mountains are vast and inhabited by tigers and venomous snakes, so we need to bring more people to ensure safety."
After hearing this explanation, Li Yuan's brows relaxed.
"Instead of going to the nice royal paddock, I have to go hunting in the Qinling Mountains. It's really..."
He chuckled and said,
“I don’t know who this adventurous person is like.”
Pei Ji saw this and said hesitantly:
"Your Majesty, His Highness the King of Qin went hunting in the mountains with such great fanfare. I'm afraid it's a bit too much..."
Li Yuan waved his hand before he finished speaking.
"That's all, I know he's in a bad mood, he's just hunting, let him be!"
He said casually,
"Young people just love to make trouble."
"Unlike me, I'm tired of hunting. It's not as interesting as fishing with a bow and an arrow."
"As a superior, you should fish more and cultivate your calming skills, so that you can be calm in any situation..."
As he spoke, he flicked the fishing rod, and a small fish was hooked.
Li Yuan smiled brightly.
