Chapter 698: As a human being, you have to accept your fate.

"Am I that bad?"

Li Chengqian looked at all the ministers, all of whom requested to follow his father on the Eastern Expedition and were unwilling to stay and assist him. He felt low and frustrated.

At this moment, Li Chengqian even discovered that the throne did not seem as tempting as he had imagined.

Su Mingzhe and the other ministers had no intention of paying attention to Li Chengqian's fragile heart.

"The abdication ceremony will be held before the New Year. The specific time will be discussed by the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Observatory."

"I accept the decree."

Wang Gui was the Minister of Rites and he accepted the order immediately.

As for Li Chunfeng, the director of the Imperial Observatory, he was not a senior official in the court and did not appear today.

Everyone decided on the time of abdication, how to hold the ceremony, and the scale of the ceremony all needed to be discussed by everyone.

Moreover, after Su Mingzhe abdicated, where he would live became an issue that everyone needed to pay attention to.

"Father will naturally continue to live in Taiji Palace."

Li Chengqian, who had been acting as a background wall, finally couldn't help but speak.

He wanted to succeed to the throne and become emperor, but he also wanted to have a good reputation, so the palace had to be left for his father to live in.

Several important officials looked at him and nodded in agreement.

Su Mingzhe raised his eyelids and laughed:
"The Taiji Palace and Ganlu Palace are where the emperor resides. Since I have already abdicated, I naturally cannot live here."

At this time, Wei Zheng suddenly said:

"Your Majesty can live in Da'an Palace."

In the first few years after Emperor Gaozu abdicated, he still lived in the Taiji Palace, which meant that Li Shimin, who had already ascended the throne, had to live in the East Palace.

Later, it was Li Shimin who resorted to some trickery and Emperor Gaozu took the initiative to move to Da'an Palace.

The so-called Da'an Palace is actually Li Shimin's original Qin Palace.

Wei Zheng suggested that Su Mingzhe should live in Da'an Palace after he abdicated, which sounded reasonable.

However, Su Mingzhe shook his head again:
"Inappropriate, inappropriate."

Emperor Gaozu could live in Da'an Palace because he no longer had much military power.

But Li Chengqian would definitely feel uncomfortable letting Su Mingzhe live in Da'an Palace.

Because Su Mingzhe's control over the court far exceeds that of Emperor Gaozu.

Su Mingzhe's living in Da'an Palace is no different from living in Taiji Palace.

"After I abdicate, I want to move to Huaqing Palace."

Su Mingzhe had this idea a long time ago.

After abdicating, he moved to Huaqing Palace in Mount Li with his concubines, princes and princesses.

In this way, Su Mingzhe stays away from the court, which also provides the new emperor with a psychological safety space.

"Your Majesty, you cannot leave Chang'an City!"

Yang Shidao, who was always silent and taciturn, heard that Su Mingzhe was moving to Huaqing Palace, and hurriedly spoke up to stop him.

The other ministers also refused.

Even Changsun Wuji and Gao Shilian expressed their disapproval in unison.

If Su Mingzhe continued to stay in Chang'an City, whether he lived in Taiji Palace or Da'an Palace, it would not make much difference to the court officials.

However, if we move to Huaqing Palace, everyone will be in trouble.

This was in ancient times, the emperor was far away and the sky was high, so this was not just a casual remark.

Su Mingzhe seemed not to understand what these ministers meant, and continued to laugh:

"What's wrong with that? Mount Li is only fifty miles away from Chang'an City. If there's anything, we can ride a fast horse and go back and forth in half a day."

The reason why these ministers insisted on letting Su Mingzhe stay in Chang'an City was that they wanted to impose constraints on the new emperor.

However, Su Mingzhe did not want to restrict his son.

Besides, even if Su Mingzhe wanted to restrain his son, he didn't want to use the "annoying" method.

After all, Su Mingzhe is not the old and foolish King Wuling of Zhao.

If Li Chengqian dared to surround him, Su Mingzhe would teach him a lesson in minutes.

Unfortunately, the ministers present did not know about these things.

Afterwards, the ministers raised many more issues.

Su Mingzhe always made concessions to his son as much as possible in order not to cause trouble for him.

Apart from the eastern expedition to Goryeo, Su Mingzhe put aside almost all matters in the court.

Humans are not plants or trees, so who can be heartless?

Seeing Su Mingzhe retreat so completely, Li Chengqian's admiration for him from the bottom of his heart once again lingered in his mind, and his eyes began to turn red uncontrollably.

This small meeting is over.

Su Mingzhe immediately returned to the harem and no longer came to Hanyuan Hall to review memorials.

Since he had already decided to abdicate, Su Mingzhe chose to let go more simply and stayed in the harem all day, either seeking pleasure or on his way to seeking pleasure.

In just over a month, more than a hundred newcomers among the three thousand beauties in the harem were favored by Su Mingzhe.

Seeing his father indulging in alcohol and sex, Li Chengqian felt both happy and sad.

The reason why Li Chengqian was happy was that Su Mingzhe had lost his ambitions. So after abdicating, he only needed to serve his father and continue to enjoy himself.

He doesn't need to be a puppet emperor, let alone a 'puppet emperor'.

Li Chengqian felt sad because the idol he had admired since childhood was slowly falling from grace. His father, who was once invincible, had now become a ridiculous and incompetent ruler who was addicted to alcohol and sex.

Twenty-year-old Li Chengqian was still unable to completely conceal his emotions. After returning to the Eastern Palace, he was discovered to be acting strangely by Crown Princess Su Tan'er.

Su Tan'er came from a prominent family. Her father, Su Tan, was originally a secretary.

After his daughter married into the Eastern Palace, Su Tan was promoted to the governor of Taizhou, which was also considered a court minister.

With such a family background, Su Tan'er is naturally smart and virtuous.

When the prince went out this morning, his face was rosy and his spirits were high. But now that he has returned, he has become worried.

Su Tan'er was also worried about her man:
"Your Highness, did anything important happen in the court today?"

"The Tang Dynasty is now peaceful and prosperous. There will be no major events."

Li Chengqian respected his wife Su Tan'er very much, but he was not very close to her.

The reason why he respected her was that this wife was chosen for him by Empress Changsun, and she had a gentle and virtuous personality.

The reason why they didn't have much of a heart-to-heart talk was because they had different values.

Li Chengqian wanted to bring glory to his ancestors, to be stronger than his ancestors, to accomplish great things, to be proficient in both civil and military affairs, and to become an emperor of all ages.

Su Tan'er was well-read and knew the sufferings of the people. She liked the Huang-Lao school's policy of inaction.

Since they have different values ​​and philosophies, it's natural that they can seldom talk about personal matters.

However, Li Chengqian could choose not to say it, but Su Tan'er had to ask.

After all, Su Tan'er, who came from a scholarly family, really wanted to be a good wife.

After the chief eunuch of the Eastern Palace brought people to serve dinner, Su Tan'er handed her son Li Jue to her sister next to her to take care of him, and then said to her man:

"Your Highness, today Concubine Yan sent someone to deliver a kind of fruit and vegetable, saying it's called 'sweet potato'. After peeling the skin, it tastes very sweet. Juer has just grown new baby teeth and likes to eat this kind of sweet potato. Concubine Yan also said that this kind of fruit and vegetable was donated by a wandering man named Zhong Nanshan. It is a product of the extra land. We don't have it in the Tang Dynasty yet. After the harem planted a crop, it felt that the yield was good, so we plan to continue planting it, hoping to bring a new kind of food to the Tang Dynasty..."

"What did Father say?"

When Li Chengqian heard that it was something sent by Concubine Yan, his expression became a little more serious.

But he knew that after his father returned to the palace, besides watching the singing and dancing performances of the Jiaofangsi in Ganlu Palace, he liked to go to two places.

One place is Concubine Zheng's place, and the other place is Concubine Yan's place.

Now that Concubine Yan had sent the items, Li Chengqian naturally thought of his father.

Seeing that her husband was concerned about this matter, Su Tan'er quickly replied in a serious tone:

"I asked, and it seems that these things were given to Concubine Yan by His Majesty to plant. He also said that the yield far exceeds that of wheat and rice. His Majesty plans to let Concubine Yan be responsible for large-scale planting, so as to prevent famine."

"Go ask Concubine Yan for some seeds tomorrow, and we'll plant them next year as well."

Li Chengqian is the prince, not a fool.

He is mediocre in talent, not stupid in brain.

The matter that the emperor solemnly asked a concubine to be responsible for must be no trivial matter.

If the yield of this crop is really good and can solve the famine problem for the Tang Dynasty, then as the person who promoted this crop, my contribution will be no less than that of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.

On the second day.

Crown Princess Su Tan'er personally came to the Heyu Palace where Concubine Yan lived.

"I've met the Crown Princess!"

Although Concubine Yan, Wu Meiniang and Xu Hui are the emperor's women, in terms of status, Concubine Yan is now a first-rank concubine, while Wu Meiniang and Xu Hui are third-rank concubines.

The three women are facing the outstanding Crown Princess and the future Queen, so they need to pay their respects to Su Tan'er first.

Facing the three women's greetings, Su Tan'er was unwilling to take the lead, so she leaned aside to receive a half-bow, and then returned the greeting:

"Your Majesty is an elder, Tan'er cannot bear your generous gift."

"Tan Er can certainly bear it."

Concubine Yan was also very happy to see the Crown Princess being so humble and polite. However, she insisted that etiquette should not be abolished.

In another month or two, the crown prince will accept the abdication and ascend the throne to become emperor, and this crown princess will be the future empress who will rule the country.

But she was just a concubine. How could she lose her manners in front of the future empress who would rule the country?

Seeing that Concubine Yan was so polite, Su Tan'er couldn't continue to be humble. She could only be straightforward and stated her purpose.

After hearing this, Concubine Yan naturally ordered people to give half of the corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes, peanuts, peppers and other seeds she had stored to Su Tan'er.

In the end, Concubine Yan also gave several palace maids and eunuchs who were in charge of planting in her palace to Su Tan'er.

"Thank you, ma'am."

Su Tan'er thanked him quickly.

Knowing that they would feel uncomfortable staying in Heyu Palace, Concubine Yan and the other two felt uncomfortable. Su Tan'er took the seeds and quickly said goodbye.

After seeing off the Crown Princess, Concubine Yan and Xu Hui were of a calm nature. They sat back by the window and continued doing their needlework.

However, Wu Meiniang could not calm down for a long time, and her mind was always filled with the phoenix coronet and bridal robe worn by the Crown Princess.

That is the Crown Princess, the future Queen.

The highest glory in a woman's life is something she will never be able to achieve in her lifetime.

Feeling depressed, Wu Meiniang said goodbye to Concubine Yan and said that she wanted to go back to the side hall to rest.

Concubine Yan took a look at Concubine Wu's gloomy expression and didn't take it seriously.

This is how everyone comes here.

As a human being, you have to accept your fate.

(End of this chapter)