After Li Kuan was detained in the Zongren Mansion for five days, Prince Li Chengqian, who had just returned from praying at the Ancestral Temple, finally saw him.
"Brother Kuan..." Li Chengqian stood at the entrance of the small courtyard with a food box, looking at his younger brother who was sitting at the stone table and throwing grapes into his mouth. His thoughts were very complicated.
"Hey, brother?" Li Kuan turned his head in surprise when he heard the voice. After seeing that the visitor was Li Chengqian, he pointed to the grapes on the table with a smile: "The tribute from the Western Regions, the old Zong Ling secretly gave me some, saying Really, they are quite nice."
"But you, you idiot, didn't you just pluck out someone's beard with your own hands!" Li Chengqian said in a funny and angry tone.
"Well, I was young and ignorant at that time..." Li Kuan touched his nose. Suddenly he seemed to remember something, and turned to Li Chengqian and said, "Brother, Changle is not making trouble outside, is she?"
Ever since Li Kuan was imprisoned in the clan's mansion, the thing he was most worried about was his sister.
"What do you think?" Li Chengqian glared at his younger brother, came to him with a food box and sat down: "Changle has been crying non-stop these days. No matter how much the mother comforted her, it was useless. The little girl always felt that she was the one who caused the harm that day. As for you, my father, you are hampered by the chaos of the courtiers..."
"Wait a minute..." Li Kuan suddenly frowned: "Brother, do you think the courtiers are acting recklessly?"
"Ah, so I can't let you out for the time being." Li Chengqian looked at Li Kuan apologetically.
"Hahahaha..." Li Kuan suddenly slapped the table and laughed: "Linghu Defen, this old fox, what kind of stupid trick is this? Our father must hate him to death this time..."
"It's not the news from Lord Linghu." Li Chengqian sighed. Although Linghu Deben had his own little plan, in Li Chengqian's view, the other party suffered such a disaster because of himself.
"If it's not Linghu Defen, then who is it?" Li Kuan stopped laughing, looked at Li Chengqian, and asked with some confusion.
Li Chengqian was silent for a moment after hearing this, and finally gave the answer: "It's Prime Minister Pei."
"Him?" Li Kuan couldn't help but be a little surprised: "Why? I didn't recruit him!"
Besides, his grandson Pei Chengxian was a good brother who had been sworn to his plum garden in Qujiang Garden.
"I don't know either," Li Chengqian shook his head, looking equally confused.
"I remembered!" Unexpectedly, Li Kuan suddenly clapped his hands, stood up, and slowly walked around the table: "When I took Fang Yiai, Li Huairen and the others to the Pei Mansion to play, everyone I found the tiger bone wine that he had collected in Prime Minister Pei’s study. I heard that the medicinal wine was a gift from a famous doctor. My brothers were curious, so they drank it among themselves... Could it be because of this?" Li Kuan looked at him with searching eyes. To the elder brother.
"..." Li Chengqian looked at his brother speechlessly. He really... really didn't know for a moment whether he should complain about his brother's IQ or his moral standards first.
Damn you...the bigger kid didn't even have full hair, and then he ran to drink the aphrodisiac wine collected by Prime Minister Pei...
No, it has nothing to do with aphrodisiac wine...
"Brother, talk!" Li Kuan lay on the stone table in boredom, tilting his head and looking at his silent brother.
"What else can I say?" Li Chengqian smiled bitterly and shook his head: "His Royal Highness, King Chu, lives and works in parallel, which really impresses me."
You don't do anything that people do...
"I remembered!" Li Kuan suddenly straightened up again: "Everyone had only tasted a little of that wine at that time, and it was very hard to drink! But Pei Chengxian, who was crying with half a jar of tiger bone wine missing, said Grandpa will definitely beat him to death if he finds out. I see how pitiful he is, so...just..."
His Royal Highness the King of Chu, who had always been shameless, suddenly couldn't speak anymore.
Even the tips of the ears were slightly red.
"Just what?" Li Chengqian looked at his younger brother sideways, and he knew that this guy was not telling the truth just now.
"Just...just...anyway, I later found a way to fill up the wine jar." Li Kuan touched his nose.
"How did you fill it up?" Li Chengqian felt that he was close to the truth.
"I held the wine jar...and found an empty room with no one around...Finally...quietly added some child urine..." Well, Li Kuan, who rarely stuttered with words, said at the end, unconsciously I rubbed my nose and remembered that I seemed to be a little angry at that time.
"Bang!" After hearing His Majesty King Chu's outrageous speech, the overwhelmed His Royal Highness tilted his body and fell to the ground.
"You...you..." In the dust and mist, His Highness the Prince's hand pointing at his younger brother was trembling slightly.
Good boy, you don’t dare to do anything that other people do. You are the kind of wicked and smoky person who can be found everywhere!
"Is it really because of this?" Li Kuan scratched his head and ignored the prince's eldest brother who felt the coolness on the ground. Instead, he sat down at the stone table and said, "That's not possible... Pei Chengxian said that the wine was prepared by Pei Ji in Yuan Dynasty. It was taken out to enjoy that day, but now it is out of season, how did he find out?"
As Li Kuan spoke, he touched his chin and pondered for a moment. He looked at his elder brother who stood up silently from the ground: "Does it mean that the old man wants to take a concubine again recently? Good guy!" Li Kuan suddenly slammed the table: " Brother, this old pervert is living a really carefree and happy life!"
His Royal Highness the King of Chu's mouth was full of righteous indignation, but the jealousy in his heart was expressed earlier.
"You... you're such a jerk!" Li Chengqian felt for the first time that after all these years, his father could bear to take action against his younger brother until just recently. This was already a sign of his mastery of qi-nurturing skills.
"Okay, don't scream so loudly." Li Kuan reached out angrily and patted the dust on his brother's back: "I'm your brother."
"Shuzi!" Li Chengqian still yelled stubbornly.
"It's up to you~" Li Kuan curled his lips, his face full of indifference.
Next, the two of them were relatively speechless.
After a long time.
"Eat first." Li Chengqian sighed and decided to accept the reality.
I just need to look for an opportunity and find a way to get my brother's spiked tiger bone wine from Pei Ji...
His Majesty, the Crown Prince, who chose to surrender to his younger brother, would eventually have to wipe his ass.
"Oh," Li Kuan couldn't help but feel happy as he watched his eldest brother take out stacks of dishes from the food box. Almost all of them were his favorite dishes. "Brother is really interested."
"It's not me who's interested, it's Changle!" Li Chengqian said in a funny tone: "The little girl went to the Shang Food Bureau to supervise the work. When it was done, she asked me to deliver it to you. She also strictly ordered me not to eat on the way... I'm just kidding, I thought I'm like you..."
Listening to his eldest brother's nagging complaints, Li Kuan chuckled: "Brother, you are just jealous of Chang Le and like him more, but brother, this is the fact, there is nothing you can do about it."
"Hmph," Li Chengqian didn't bother to argue with his brother's remark. After setting the dishes, he thrust a pair of ivory chopsticks into his brother's hands: "Eat quickly. I'll leave the palace after eating."
His Royal Highness, who has never been good at serving others, started to pick up another pair of chopsticks and put food into Li Kuan's bowl.
"Brother, you don't want to eat?" Li Kuan didn't believe it and immediately started stuffing food into his mouth.
"I can only eat vegetarian food for the past two days." Li Chengqian said casually, concealing that in order to show his sincerity, he spontaneously went on a hunger strike for three days and prayed for the world in the Ancestral Temple. Of course, he also did it for Li Er's sake. , being able to turn a blind eye to his behavior of delivering food to his younger brother.
"I thought about it. I'm afraid that the main reason why Prime Minister Pei leaked the news was not to target you, but to express his surrender to the emperor." Li Chengqian began to actively analyze while piling up his younger brother's job: "The emperor's grandfather has abdicated. It's been two years, and my father is still young and powerful. He can't tolerate any sand in his eyes. He has long been unable to look down on these old ministers in the temple who are doing things they don't want to do.
However, due to the fact that he had been in office for too long and the positions of the ministers in the court changed too frequently, it was inevitable that he would be suspected of cleaning up the court, so he endured it for the time being.
But patience is limited after all, and my father will take action against these people sooner or later.
Prime Minister Pei obviously realized this and couldn't sit still. That's why he took the opportunity of you beating Master Linghu to expose the matter.
In this case, the officials will naturally report to the father and accuse you of being arrogant. In this way, even if your father knows the inside story, he will have to lock you in the clan mansion. Brother Kuan, don't blame your father, this is to protect you. "When Li Chengqian said this, he did not forget to explain to Li Kuan.
"Brother, please continue." Li Kuan stopped his chopsticks at this moment and looked at his eldest brother. He found that his eldest brother had made great progress in the past two years.
"The right or wrong of things often depends on one's position. I think that Mr. Linghu, who has woken up now, and if he has any brains, it will be time to submit the old advice to the emperor soon. By then, the gang of emperors and grandfathers left behind Among the veterans who come down, there will also be some fools who are knowledgeable, and my father will definitely grant these people's requests.
In this way, Prime Minister Pei was silently helping his father and freeing up a number of important positions in the court. This not only alleviated the conflicts between the old and new courtiers, but also represented his move closer to his father. After all, except for our uncle Changsun Wuji, who now has a higher official position and is a third-rank general Zuo Wuhou, several other old subordinates of our father, like Fang Gong, are still only fourth-rank civil servants. How can this be justified? "
After listening to his elder brother's analysis of the matter, Li Kuan nodded thoughtfully, but then he smiled and said: "Brother, your analysis makes sense, but there is one thing, I think you made a mistake.
My father would never accept Pei Ji's surrender. The reason is simple. Pei Ji will only be the emperor's grandfather's minister until his death. "
"Why are you so sure?" Li Chengqian looked at Li Kuan in surprise.
"Because this old guy has always been uneasy and kind-hearted." Li Kuan picked up the bowl again and took two mouthfuls of rice into his mouth: "Then who is Linghu Defen? He was once the emperor's grandfather's living roommate (equivalent to the living room). Secretary and Confidential Secretary), Pei Ji used him as a symbol of loyalty. From the perspective of you, me and my father, this is just the right thing.
——But..." Li Kuan stopped eating and slowly said, "What will the world think? "
The world would only think that the Tian family was cold-blooded, that Linghu Defen had suffered injustice, and that Prime Minister Pei, who was so popular in both the government and the public, had to choose to surrender in order to save the remaining old brothers.
No one would think about why Li Kuan would attack Linghu Defen.
Even if someone thinks about it, they will eventually choose to turn a blind eye.
After hearing what Li Kuan said, Li Chengqian was silent for a long time.
After a long while, he whispered: "Brother Kuan, I haven't thanked you for what happened that day. Old thief Linghu really deserves a beating."
At this moment, he no longer respectfully addressed the other party as Lord Linghu. It seemed that the prince actually understood this in his heart.
"Brother, I am afraid that no one will ever say similar words to you except me in this life, and I will only say it once." Li Kuan looked at the surprised elder brother, Zi Gu Zi continued: "Dad is destined to become a hero like Emperor Qin and Han Wu, so our brothers, especially you, my eldest brother, the most important thing you should learn in this life is to wait quietly.
It doesn't matter if you act a little out of the ordinary on weekdays, but you must never have the idea of rushing to get the upper hand.
The price for acquiring the throne was too heavy for our father.
It's so heavy that he probably won't be able to let go of it in his life..." When Li Kuan said this, he originally wanted to continue to remind his eldest brother, so you will definitely see the crazy side of our father in the future, but thinking about it in retrospect, it's better to forget it now. The prerequisite is to be able to stabilize the elder brother from going crazy.
"Okay, that's all." Li Kuan, who originally wanted to speak earnestly, stopped the topic abruptly. He looked at the somewhat stunned eldest brother, the prince, laughed, patted him on the shoulder and said: "Brother, we are brothers. , so I naturally hope you are well. As for whether my words are sincere, I think you will have your own judgment.
But," Li Kuan suddenly raised his eyebrows handsomely at Li Chengqian: "Brother, if you dare to live up to my sincerity as a younger brother in the future, then I will let you feel my fist as big as a sandbag. "
Seeing that his eldest brother had some signs of tears in his eyes, His Royal Highness the King of Chu waved his fist in front of the opponent a little arrogantly and shook it, which was not only a demonstration, but also meant to break up the opponent's sudden move.
"What are you talking about?" Li Chengqian took a deep breath and slapped his brother's fist away: "Brothers, you and I will never be at odds with each other in this life!"
"Listen to this..." Li Kuan wrinkled his face, feeling angry as he tasted it.
While Li Chengqian was still quietly wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes, Li Kuan suddenly remembered that this man would have a good manly deeds in the future.
Damn...
Li Kuan subconsciously covered his forehead, feeling a headache.
