7.9–7.10

7.9

Inside the Tian Chen Palace, Gao Min was practicing his sword on the martial arts field, when his personal attendant saw that the teacups and teapots were all empty, he turned back to the side hall to re-brew them.

Finding Jun Hou’s favorite drink, Liu An Gua Slices, on the Bo Gu Shelf, he stood on his tiptoes to remove the tea canister, only to find that there was some diaphragm in his palm. He did not move and looked around, seeing that no one was there at this time, quickly removed the foreign object stuck to the bottom of the can.

It was a piece of rice paper folded into a small square, on which there were only five small fly-head characters – luring Gao Min to return home.

It was a good thing to do. With a great sigh of relief, the squire crumpled the rice paper into a ball and threw it into the burning stove.

Returning to the martial arts arena, he raised the teapot in his hand, signaling his master to take a little rest. Gao Min was also tired and took his sword back into its scabbard, wiping his sweat as he walked over.

“Master, the last time I went out to the palace to do some shopping, I bumped into Sister Ma beside Old Taijun, and she said that the family’s acacia blossoms had bloomed in a large area, and that they were fragrant and beautiful to look at. Master can you still remember that when we were young, we loved to climb up the tree to help Old Taijun pick the acacia flowers.” The attendant spoke softly.

Gao Min’s face showed a reminiscent look, laughed, “Of course I remember. Picked acacia flowers this gentleman never refused to let the old Taijun long put, necessary to watch her chopping and stirring seasoning, made into acacia buns put into the steamer before giving up. Old Taijun do acacia buns even the imperial chef can not compare.”

The squire sucked in his saliva and nodded vigorously.

Gao Min gave him an amused look, flung his sleeve and said, “My lord’s craving has been aroused by you. Strike, go back to the palace and pack up, let’s return home.”

The attendant busily answered the promise, and was raising his steps to go when he was called back, “Go to the imperial study to fetch Yan’er back, he hasn’t seen his uncle and grandfather for a long time.”

Because of Li Jintian’s indulgence, Gao Min did not even think about reporting this matter back to the court, and took his son out of the palace in micro-suits. It was not until the afternoon that Li Jintian received a secret report from his secret agent.

“You saw with your own eyes that King Li also entered the Gao family?”

The dark detective nodded.

“What are they all doing?” Li Jintian’s expression and tone were calm, but the back of his hand placed on the imperial table floated with a line of veins.

“The slave doesn’t know.” The secret agent pressed his head even lower.

“You don’t know? I’ve spent so much effort cultivating you, and you can’t even do this little thing?”

“Back to Your Majesty, the Gao family has a group of dead soldiers in captivity, patrolling the surrounding area twelve hours a day. The lackeys dare not approach for fear of being discovered.”

Dead soldiers? Since ancient times, only emperors can keep dead soldiers. Who is the Gao family? That’s right, what’s the difference between the Gao family and the emperor’s family now? Compared to the millions of private soldiers in Gao Min’s hands, a mere group of dead soldiers is nothing.

Li Jintian did not get angry, instead he laughed out loud at his own stupidity. Back then, the Qi family was known as the number one gate valve in Great Yan, but when it was raided, it only had dozens of guards and a hundred or so servants at home. How can such a family be considered the number one clan? Then what is the Gao family?

It was really true that he had raised a tiger! Li Jintian momentarily regretted his decision of destroying the Qi family back then, and momentarily imagined the picture of Gao Min and Li Wang cheating on each other in the Gao family, his head ached intensely.

He pressed and rubbed his temples hard, waiting for the waves of intense pain to ease a little before speaking in a deep voice, “You guys continue to keep an eye on it from afar, don’t slack off. By the way, how is the Sixth Prince’s injury?”

Punishing the Sixth Prince with a six-month grounding, Li Jintian also had his own considerations, one was to let him temporarily avoid the Gao family’s father and son, and the other was to let him recuperate from his injuries.

The secret detective arched his hand and said, “The eunuch you secretly sent just reported back a few days ago, saying that the Sixth Prince’s injuries are no longer a big problem, and that he only needs to recuperate for two months to be able to rest in peace.”

“I asked the Imperial Doctor to bring Qi Guijun’s words, does he understand?” Li Jintian tensed up. He did not want the Sixth Prince to be too noticeable, so he ordered Qi Xiu Jie to declare to the public that the Sixth Prince’s kneecaps were ruined, and he was afraid that he would not be able to do strenuous exercise in the future. A poorly behaved prince would always get in the way of the Gao family, thus allowing them to secretly do their dirty work.

Li Jintian had to admit that Qi Xiujie was right, even he couldn’t move the Gao family right now. He could tolerate the arrogance and dominance of the Gao family, but he could not tolerate Qi Xiu Jie’s misunderstanding. He was afraid that Qi Xiu Jie would think that his move was obliterating the Sixth Prince’s future, after all, his unrestrained indulgence towards the Gao Min father and son was already well known.

“Noble Prince Qi said that as long as it is your will, he and the Sixth Prince will obey it without fail.”

Hearing this, Li Jintian’s eyes were moist and hot, and he secretly thought: Yes, in the past two lives, Xiu Jie has always been obedient to me. How could he harbor resentment and misunderstanding towards me? I have really thought too much. If I have not lost that memory after rebirth, if the person I love is still Xiu Jie, what kind of happy life should I live now?

Thinking about this, Li Jintian suddenly felt exhausted, waved his hand to dismiss the secret agent, and hid himself in the shadow of the gauze tent, not knowing what he was thinking about.

———————-

Gao Min had been out on the battlefield for two or three years, and had long been unable to endure the constraints of the palace, and when he had the time, he would bring his son on his travels, but every time, he would meet Li Wang. He knew that Li Wang was deeply in love with him, and also thanked him for his care for two consecutive lives, so he did not refuse his company, but instead let his son get closer to him.

King Li was in a position of power and was a great asset to his son.

In the original destiny trajectory, his closeness to King Li would only make Li Jintian jealous and thus treat him better, but now Li Jintian, who has completely lost trust in him, is moving step by step towards blackening.

After receiving the secret report, Li Jintian had gone from the initial darkening of his anger to his current insensitivity, and the shift in his mindset was on the verge of being very dangerous, and only one more push was needed to make him completely lose his mind.

And how exactly should this hand be pushed, Zhou Yunsheng from the very beginning has already laid a good set, if Gao Min is not coming to deal with him, this move can be used, but Gao Min has long hated Qi Xiu Jie to the bone, obviously cannot be good.

On this day, Gao Min had gone to the military camp, and the Imperial Study Hall was closed, so Li Xuyan stayed at the Yang Xin Hall to accompany his father. At a quarter past noon, the attendants set up the imperial meal in the side hall and invited the two masters.

“Recently, the Miroku Kingdom has paid tribute to many more prunes?” Li Xuyan asked, pointing at a plate of bright red plums.

“Yes, there are two baskets of tribute, if you like it you can take one back later.” Li Jintian smiled amiably.

“Imperial Uncle likes it too, why don’t you give him some too?”

“You have a heart.” Li Jintian’s smile remained unchanged, but there was a dark coldness in his eyes.

The fifth prince sighed tersely, “Imperial uncle usually takes care of the child quite a lot, the child naturally wants to return the favor.” He knew in his heart that his father and uncle had a very good relationship, so there was no avoidance in his words.

“Well, then you make someone deliver it later.” Li Jintian gripped his chopsticks tightly and urged, “Eat quickly, the food should get cold.”

The Fifth Prince nodded his head, chucked a prune into his bowl and dish, and instructed his attendant, “Bring over a pot of soy sauce.”

The attendant hurriedly handed over the soy sauce, but he saw that he poured it over the plums and tossed it slightly with his chopsticks before putting it into his mouth with a very enjoyable expression. This way of eating was King Li’s original creation.

Li Jintian had felt curious to try it once, sour, sweet, salty, astringent, all sorts of flavors exploded on his tongue, almost didn’t make him vomit on the spot.

He wrinkled his eyebrows and looked fixedly at the teenager across from him.

Just at this time, the eunuch chief flirted, “Fifth Prince this eating method is learned from His Highness King Li, right? Not only do you two have similar tastes, even your eyebrows and eyes look more and more like each other, at a glance it looks like a mold carved out. It is said that nephews are like uncles, and this also applies to uncles and nephews.”

The Fifth Prince but smiled without saying anything, not realizing that there was something else in these words. He and King Li were already related by blood, so what was so strange about looking alike.

But Li Jintian thought a little too much. He couldn’t even find out when Gao Min and Li Wang hooked up, and his heart was really uneasy. What if they had colluded before they entered the palace? When Gao Min entered the palace, the empress dowager had not yet passed away, Li Wang was favored by the empress dowager, and often went in and out of the palace to visit, so it was easy for the two of them to secretly meet each other.

Li Jintian was so horrified that he almost broke the chopsticks in his hand. If the fifth prince was not my seed, then Gao Min and King Li did have a reason to assassinate me because I hindered the reunion of their family of three. No wonder Gao Min said ‘we finally waited until today’, no wonder!

The most crucial ring snapped on, and Li Jintian felt self-conscious that he had figured out everything. His internal organs were burning, and he almost didn’t cry out in pain. The Chief Eunuch noticed the strange situation and rushed forward to inquire.

“I’m fine, recently the Yue people in the south have been causing trouble again, causing me to be unable to sleep at night.” He barely waved his hand.

The Fifth Prince walked over to help him pat his spine and comforted, “Father need not be anxious, Jun Father is already preparing for the attack on the Yue people. With Jun Father around, they won’t be able to make a big wave.”

Not only did Li Jintian not feel relieved at hearing this, even his soul burned. He nodded his head in seeming approval and summoned the secret agent after dispatching the Fifth Prince.

“Bring a drop of the Fifth Prince’s blood.”

The order was rather bizarre, but the secret agent did not ask many questions, and a few moments later took a drop of blood and presented it to the imperial court.

Li Jintian sent away the secret agent, will drop blood into a bowl of water that has already been prepared, and then bite through the fingertip to drop into his own blood. Two drops of blood meet at the bottom of the bowl, straight after a long time does not see fusion, but gradually in the water into a light red mist, and eventually dissipate.

Li Jintian finally died, raised his hand and overturned the imperial table, laughing maniacally, and then let out a cry after laughing. He couldn’t believe that the person he loved with his life was actually a liar, and the carefully cultivated royal son was actually a bastard. Then why did Gao Min accompany himself to die in his last life? Yes, King Li had proposed to let Gao Min escape with him when they parted so as to divert the pursuers, but it was himself who was adamant that he wanted Gao Min to stay behind.

At that time, they were going to go away together, right? I’m the one who spoiled it for them.

The more he thought about it, the more reasonable he felt, and the more angry he felt, Li Jintian rushed out of the Palace of Nourishing Heart with crimson eyes, and came to the Purple Palace by intuition.

Qi Xiu Jie was standing behind the desk painting, the sixth prince snuggled beside him, fondly wrapped his arms around him, rubbing against his shoulders, as if he could not leave his sovereign father for a moment. The sixth prince has grown taller and taller, and his features have become more and more handsome and extraordinary, and he can vaguely see the shadow of Li Jintian when he was young.

Such a cozy picture but only made Li Jintian’s footsteps pause for an instant. He walked over and kicked over the desk, carrying Qi Xiu Jie up and striding towards the inner hall, his voice hoarse, “Everyone get out of here!”

How could Li Xudong leave? He was about to follow him in, but he saw Jun’s father waving his hand slightly, his expression rather careless, as if the furious Li Jintian was just a jumping clown that could not cause any harm to him.

Li Xudong gritted his teeth and did not follow him in again.

7.10

Li Jintian threw Zhou Yunsheng onto the couch, leaned over and pressed on, and was about to tear his clothes when he froze, his eyes becoming dazed. Zhou Yunsheng pushed him away and sat on the short stool next to the bed.

Li Jintian’s eyes were unfocused, but his movements were unceasing, holding a ball of quilt and tearing and biting it, then pressing on it and arching violently, a low growl spilling out from his throat, his ugly behavior like a male dog in heat.

Zhou Yunsheng looked good for a moment and raised his steps to walk out of the inner room.

Li Xudong waited in the outer room, his eardrums stung by Li Jintian’s hissing, slowly drawing out a dagger from his boot, his murderous aura soaring in his chest. At that exact moment, the door to the room opened, and seeing Jun’s father strolling out unharmed, the crimson blood color in his eyes instantly faded to nothing.

“You’re okay, Father Jun?”

Zhou Yunsheng did not answer, staring at the dagger in his hand and questioning, ”What do you want to do? Regicide? You stupid bastard, you’ve been taught for nothing for so many years ……”

Before he could finish his sentence, he was already being held tightly in Li Xudong’s arms. The teenager was only 15 years old this year, yet he had already grown as tall as him, his jaws clasped in the nape of his neck, and the slightly prickly scruff made him feel itchy and uncomfortable. However, he did not bear to push the teenager away, this was after all the child he had raised with his own hands.

“You’re fine, Father Jun?” Li Xudong reconfirmed, hearing the constant sounds of coitus – coitus – coming from within the room, and queried, “Then what is Father doing?”

“Daydreaming.” Zhou Yunsheng sneered.

Li Xudong no longer pursued the question and slowly confided, ”Jun Father, why did Father Emperor treat you like this once he came here after not coming for a long time? He is only using you as a tool for lust, or a medium to punish Gao Min, he does not love you at all. Jun Father, you should stop loving him too, he condoned Gao Min to poison you, instructed Gao Lang to destroy the Qi family, and wanted to kill you as well, you should hate him. Jun father, don’t be sad, because you still have me, I will always stay by your side, filial piety, protect you, become strong and then avenge you. I will deliver the best of everything in the world to the palm of your hand and make you happy and carefree. Jun Father, let’s not care about anyone but each other, okay? Jun Father?”

His raspy voice took on urgency and pleading; he couldn’t stand the thought of anyone intent on taking his sovereign father away from him.

Zhou Yunsheng helplessly touched his cheek and laughed, “Naturally, in this forbidden palace, you are always the only one I care about. As for Li Jintian, I won’t hate him, hating also takes energy.”

Reassured, Li Xudong held his hand back and rubbed it against his cheek, like a puppy in need of his master’s caress.

Zhou Yunsheng was both angry and amused as he pushed him away and reprimanded, “Li Jintian can’t hurt me, next time something like this happens, you just wait outside and don’t be impulsive. If you stabbed him to death inside the Purple Palace, you’ll have to make me spend a lot of effort on the aftermath again.”

Li Xudong nodded his head repeatedly, his appearance was well-behaved, which still had the violent bloodlust from before.

This child is very filial, it’s really not a loss to raise him, but the only thing that’s not good is that he’s too clingy. Seeing the wolf cub that once again stuck up and hugged himself tightly, Zhou Yunsheng was helpless.

In the evening, when Li Jintian woke up from his sleep, he saw Qi Xiujie kneeling by the bedside holding a set of dragon robes, his face pale, lips dry and cracked, looking very weak. Li Jintian froze, and many images floated uncontrollably in his mind. In a violent rage, he tore at Qi Xiu Jie’s clothes, biting him, pinching him, and then rudely penetrating him.

It wasn’t a pleasure-love, it was an atrocity.

However, this person in front of him did not have the slightest resentment towards himself, instead, he strongly supported his sick body and waited to serve himself to change his clothes. Li Jintian wiped his face, ashamed of himself, yet he felt vaguely vain, thinking that he had betrayed Gao Min.

Having reached such a stage, one’s thoughts were still about Gao Min, simply incorrigible. In deep self-loathing, Li Jintian quickly got dressed and fled in a mess, and then rewarded Zi Chen Palace with many treasures.

Li Jintian suppressed this matter and did not dare to let Gao Min know about it, so after more than half a month, Gao Min formally proposed to him to send troops to South Vietnam. On the surface, Li Jin Tian agreed, but behind his back, he laid out his plans one after another. On the one hand, he let the royal sons above 14 years old to go to the ministries for duty, on the other hand, he placed his own manpower in the army, in order to weaken the power of Gao family and Li Wang, of course, there are also some unseemly tactics that are being carried out in secret at the same time.

The day before Gao Min left for his expedition, news came from the Gao family that the old Taijun was suffering from an acute illness and passed away suddenly. According to the rules, when an elder in the family’s direct line passes away, those who are serving in the government need to be worried for three years.

For this reason, Gao Lang entered the palace overnight to seek an audience with Gao Min.

“Are you saying that you let the Emperor take away your love and exempt you from three years of worry?” Gao Min frowned.

“Not only let him take away my love, and you, you must not delay the expedition to South Vietnam. My Gao family has not been able to earn such a good situation, this worry three years all ruined. The Emperor is not only special to you, he is equally good to the remaining Qi family and the Sixth Prince, who knows if they will rise again in three years and jeopardize your and Yan’er’s position.” Gao Lang spoke hurriedly with worry.

“I’ve already abolished Qi Xiu Jie and the Sixth Prince one after another, they can’t make waves. Elder brother, the old Taijun has always taken good care of you and me, and now that she has passed away, how can we disregard our filial piety because of power-desire? You don’t need to say anything about taking away my love, I will never ask the Emperor. You are not unaware of the Emperor’s feelings towards me and Huang’er, so you can completely dispense with those unnecessary concerns.” Gao Min waved his hand in disbelief.

Gaurang pondered for a moment, only to nod.

Shortly after the two had separated, the secret agent had already passed their conversation to the imperial court. Li Jintian glanced at it and laughed contemptuously. When the Qi family ancestor passed away, the Qi family in the dynasty as an official collectively more than 20 people, within a day one after another to hand folding worry, which will be like GaoLang this like love of power? It is true that the heart is big.

—————

Purple Chen Palace.

When Zhou Yunsheng heard the news that the old lady of the Gao family had passed away, he knew that Li Jintian had already made his move. He can’t move the Gao family at the moment, so he will take these three years to slowly weaken and dismantle the Gao family’s power, just like when he dealt with the Qi family that way. This is the courtroom, either the east wind overwhelms the west wind or the west wind overwhelms the east wind, the courtiers’ lives and deaths are all in the emperor’s thoughts.

After a while, we can ask Li Jintian to collect the bones of the Qi family. The Qi family members were all killed by Gao Lang, and their bones were randomly discarded in the mass graves on the outskirts of the city, so I’m afraid that it would not be easy to find all of them. However, as long as it was Qi Xiu Jie’s wish, Zhou Yun Sheng would fulfill it for him.

In the middle of his thoughts, Li Xudong walked in sweating with a bow and arrow on his back and hugged Jun’s father around the waist, his head bumping and grinding against his shoulder.

“Step aside, you’re covered in stinky sweat.” The cub has a skin hunger that needs to be cured.

“Father Jun, I miss you.” The teenager had reached the stage of voice change, and his voice was very coarse and gruff.

“Thinking about me after only going to the martial arts arena for two hours, are you still not weaned?” Zhou Yunsheng was exasperated and laughed.

Of course I will think about it, I will think about it even if I only leave for a breath. Li Xudong did not answer, his lips quietly brushing against his Jun father’s earlobe. Zhou Yunsheng patted him away and said with a straight face, “I heard that Li Jintian has allowed all the royal sons to join the dynasty and participate in politics. Which of the six ministries do you plan to go to?”

“I want to go to the Ministry of Mandarins or the Ministry of Household.”

“Power and money, is that all you can think of?”

“And what does Father Jun mean?”

“Going on an expedition to South Vietnam.”

Li Xudong fell silent, looking reluctant. He did not want to leave Jun’s father’s side.

How can Zhou Yunsheng not see his small mind, explaining, “Real power, connections, and money, although these can consolidate your position in the court, they can’t allow you to ascend to that supreme throne. It is said that the literati rebellion is not accomplished in three years, do you know why they are not accomplished? It is because they have no military power. Whoever has the barrel of a gun in their hands is qualified to sit on the throne.”

Not waiting for Li Xudong to reply, he continued, ”Don’t tell me that you don’t want to be the emperor. If that position isn’t you sitting there, but Li Xuyan, do you know what will happen to us father and son? Gao Min has already hated the Qi family and me to the bone, now that Li Jintian is still alive, he won’t touch us, but when Li Jintian dies one day, you and I will be the first ones he will kill. Do you think he will be relieved if we become invalids? If it were you, think about if you don’t cut off the roots and roots then you can’t feel at ease.”

Of course Li Xudong could not feel at ease, but he could not feel even more at ease leaving Jun Father alone in the capital. His eyes were red with anxiety, but he knew that now was not the time to be capricious, he had said that he would protect Jun Father and become his pillar of support, now was the time to rise up.

“Jun Father, I’m going to South Vietnam, I’ll definitely fight for you and come back. You should also be careful in the capital.” Li Xudong hugged the youth tightly, his crimson eyes strewn with killing intent, killing intent towards Gao Min’s father and son, and even killing intent towards Li Jintian. If it were not for these three people forcing him, how would Jun’s father have lived such a difficult life.

Some of the princes asked to go to the Ministry of Revenue, some asked to go to the Ministry of Administration, some asked to go to the Ministry of Ceremonies, in short, which department of the real power, they all want to drill into it. Li Xuyan of course into the Ministry of households, the rest of the princes of their own wish, only the sixth prince proposed to follow the army to South Vietnam to experience, but the Li Jintian difficult.

Gao Min smiled contemptuously after learning the news. An ill-behaved invalid who still rushed to the battlefield to die, the Sixth Prince was really overzealous. However, this was a good thing for him. On the battlefield, swords were blind, sending someone to get rid of the Sixth Prince without realizing it was as easy as a slap in the face. With the Sixth Prince dead, what else could Qi Xiu Jie expect in his life? The pain that he had tasted in his last life, he would definitely want Qi Xiu Jie to taste it all in this life.

Then again, it was a good thing that Li Jintian pardoned Qi Xiu Jie’s death sentence in the first place, and ending him with a knife was really cheap.

In this way, not only did Gao Min not object, he also urged Li Jintian to agree quickly, and at the same time, he put Gao Nian, who had recovered from his serious injuries, into the team of conquering South Vietnam, so as to let him save up some military merits and come back.

Li Jintian called the sixth prince to the study for an hour and granted his petition that night. This battle was fought for three years, three years in the high family’s party was cut off one after another, Li Wang also implicated in the case of salt tax in Jianghuai, was exempted from the post, has been a favorite of the fifth prince of the successive mistakes, was Li Jintian reprimanded in front of the face of the court, the prestige of the great reduction.

Instead, it was the usually unassuming Seventh Prince who gradually showed his talent and came to the front of the crowd.