Chapter 92 Habitual Routines

Li Longji knew almost everything Li Heng had done in the past two years. The reason he asked was just to show the deep love between father and son.

"Yes." Li Heng replied respectfully, and cooperated with Li Longji to tell him what he had done, what he had seen and thought over the past two years, picking out what Li Longji could and liked to hear, and telling him in appropriate details.

Li Longji nodded as he listened, and when Li Heng finished speaking, he said, "Okay, you have worked hard these past two years. If you don't want to go to that faraway place, I can allow you to become a general or a prime minister and stay in Chang'an."

When Li Longji said this, everyone present was shocked.

Especially Li Ying and Li Heng, they both looked at Li Ying at the same time, and they were very worried that Li Ying would agree.

Because this time, Li Longji said a prerequisite, that Li Ying would be allowed to become a general and a prime minister. What he meant was that he wanted to give Li Ying real power and keep him in Beijing.

Li Heng hurriedly said, "Father, I am a man of limited talent and virtue. I have left my little power in Anxi. I only hope that I can see the beautiful mountains and rivers under your rule again in my lifetime."

The first half of Li Heng's sentence rejected Li Longji's proposal without hesitation, because he knew that this was Li Longji's habitual routine.

Li Longji was well versed in the art of being an emperor, and two out of every three sentences he spoke contained routines.

If Li Heng agreed, he would be imitating Li Shimin's thoughts.

As for the second half of the sentence, Li Heng's expression is vague.

What Li Heng said was to see the beautiful mountains and rivers under Li Longji's rule, but traveling was seeing, staying in Anxi was seeing, and letting Li Heng serve as a governor in other places was also seeing.

"Alas." Li Longji sighed, "I really can't bear to see you dragging your sick body to the border, but this is your wish and your filial piety. Your talent doesn't allow you to do nothing. I promise you that you can continue to stay in Anxi. If you get bored of staying in Anxi and want to go somewhere, tell me and I will transfer you there."

Hearing this, Li Ying and Li Heng felt relieved.

"I bow to thank you, father." Li Ying kowtowed.

Li Longji said, "There's no need to be so distant between us father and son. Get up quickly."

"Yes." Li Ying stood up.

Li Longji glanced at the people who followed Li Heng into the palace and asked, "Where is Princess Shou? Didn't I ask you to bring her here so that I could reward her?"

"Your Majesty, I'm here." Yang Yuhuan stood up from behind and bowed to Li Longji.

Li Longji looked up and saw that Yang Yuhuan had a good figure, but her face was covered with a veil.

Li Longji was a little displeased and asked, "Why are you covering your face?"

Yang Yuhuan said: "Your Majesty, on the way back to Chang'an, I contracted a rheumatoid arthritis, which made my face ugly. I am afraid of frightening Your Majesty, so I covered my face."

Rash, similar to eczema.

"Oh?" Li Longji was slightly stunned, then smiled and said, "We are a family, there is nothing to be surprised about, take off your veil."

"Yes." Yang Yuhuan took off her veil as she was told.

I saw that her originally smooth face was covered with red spots, which looked quite creepy.

Li Longji said: "You... should wear a veil."

Li Longji's eldest son, Li Cong, originally had a good chance to compete for the position of Lord of the Eastern Palace, but he lost this opportunity because he was injured on the face by a fox while hunting.

Therefore, Li Longji never concealed his "ugly rejection" of others.

While Li Longji was speaking, someone in the corner sighed softly. The person who sighed was Li Ying.

"Yes." Yang Yuhuan put on the veil as she was told.

Li Longji said, "Princess Shou, I already know that you stayed in Qiuci. I will reward you with a thousand taels of gold and a hundred thousand pieces of cloth. You are so talented and virtuous, which shows that your uncle has taught you well. Your uncle must be a rare talent. I will promote him to be a governor and fill the vacancy as soon as possible."

Yang Yuhuan kowtowed and said, "I kowtow to thank the saint for his grace!" Li Longji asked Yang Yuhuan to stand up, and then said to Li Heng, "I heard that you brought me the music and dance of Qiuci when you returned to Chang'an this time?"

Li Ying said, "It's just a little bit of filial piety from my son."

"Where are the people?" Li Longji asked.

Li Ying said, "Outside the palace."

"Great." Li Longji laughed happily, "I've heard that Qiuci is a land of music and dance. Now is a good opportunity to see it for myself."

Gao Lishi, who was standing by, said, "I heard that the music and dance of Princess Shou are also very good. I wonder how the music and dance of Kucha presented this time compares with that of Princess Shou."

When Li Heng heard this, he was shocked and angry.

Historically, Yang Yuhuan entered the palace with the help of the old eunuch Gao Lishi.

Gao Lishi knew very well that Li Longji had two major hobbies: one was beautiful women, and the other was music and dance.

So after Wu Huifei's death, Gao Lishi looked everywhere for beautiful women for Li Longji, and finally he set his eyes on Yang Yuhuan.

Li Longji originally wanted to see Yang Yuhuan's music and dance, but when he thought of Yang Yuhuan's face just now, he lost all interest, so without waiting for others to reply, he said: "Princess Shou has been traveling a long way, she should take a good rest, you go and arrange for the Kucha music and dance, and we will watch it tomorrow."

"Yes." Gao Lishi replied respectfully.

After finishing his talk, Li Longji asked Li Heng to go back and have a rest first, and they would enjoy the music and dance together tomorrow.

……

……

……

The residence of Imperial Physician Zhang.

Doctor Zhang and his daughter Zhang Mujin had not seen each other for more than two years. They talked about the father-daughter relationship first, and then Doctor Zhang asked, "How does His Royal Highness Shou treat you?"

"Your Highness Prince Shou..."

Zhang Mujin originally wanted to say that His Highness treated her very well, but then she changed her mind and realized that she was the person sent by her grandfather to monitor Prince Shou. If she said that Prince Shou treated her very well, her grandfather would certainly suspect that she was bribed by Prince Shou, and the monitoring would not be effective. Then her grandfather would most likely not let her continue to "monitor" Prince Shou?
So, Zhang Mujin hesitated for a moment and said, "My daughter and His Royal Highness Prince Shou are just a master-servant relationship, it's hard to say whether it's good or bad."

Doctor Zhang saw Zhang Mujin's hesitation and said, "Don't lie to me, Grandpa. Tell the truth."

"Not good." Zhang Mujin shook her head and said aggrievedly: "His Royal Highness Shou knows that my daughter went to monitor him. How can he treat my daughter well?"

"This... is unfair to you." Doctor Zhang looked guilty and was silent for a moment before saying, "But you still have to continue to follow His Royal Highness Prince Shou."

"Why?" Zhang Mujin was secretly delighted in her heart, but had a puzzled look on her face.

Doctor Zhang said, "Prime Minister Zhang has a premonition that he will be dismissed soon. Our Zhang family may be in decline. If you follow His Royal Highness Prince Shou, you may be able to help the Zhang family."

At this point, Doctor Zhang sighed and continued, "I asked you to follow His Royal Highness the Prince of Shou because I wanted to monitor him. Now, you have to rely on his protection. It's really fate! From now on, I will have to put you in a difficult position. Try to please His Royal Highness the Prince of Shou as much as you can."

Zhang Mujin was stunned when he heard this.

She had no idea about the situation in the court, so she deliberately said that Prince Shou was not good to her. However, she didn't expect that after all her effort, she guessed wrong.

But no matter what, this result is what she wanted.

She was stunned for a moment, then said, "My daughter will do her best."

(End of this chapter)